rv St. Bonaventure (10-1) @ Colgate (2-10)
Thursday, Dec. 22 | 2 PM | Cotterell Court (3,000)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Colgate | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
Opening Tip Items
Off to a 10-1 start and Receiving Votes in the Associated Press Poll this week, the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team will look to tie its best-ever start to a season on Thursday against the Colgate Raiders.
The Bonnies will be looking to match the 11-1 start set by the 2009-10 club, and in the process win its seventh straight game overall and remain undefeated on the road this year.
St. Bonaventure is just one of eight schools in the nation with at least five road wins, despite not playing a road contest in nearly three weeks. Furthermore, the Bonnies are one of just four teams in the country with a perfect 5-0 mark on the road, joining Northwestern, Arizona and Bradley. The 5-0 road start is the first in program history. Over the last four years, SBU is an impressive 39-25 away from the Reilly Center.
Over the course of their current six-game winning streak, the Bonnies are holding their opponents to just 46.6 points per game, defeating those six teams by an average margin of 16.7 points.
In the last five minutes of games this year, SBU has been unbeatable if it has a lead (9-0), and has turned the ball over just five times. Even more impressive, Bonaventure has just one total turnover in the last five minutes of its five road games this season. Teams trying to play catch-up in the last five minutes haven't had much luck, as the Bonnies are allowing their opponents to shoot just 9.1 percent (2-22) from the 3-point line in the last five minutes of games this year.
Senior Megan Van Tatenhove – who is not scheduled to start once again for the Bonnies as she recovers from a head injury suffered Dec. 10 against Buffalo – is just six rebounds shy of 500 for her career. With those six caroms, Van Tatenhove will become just the ninth member of the 1,000 Point & 500 Rebound Club.
Bonaventure is Receiving Votes in the national polls for the fifth time in its history. It has previously Received Votes during the 2008-09 season on Dec. 8, 2008, and for three consecutive weeks in the 2009-10 season from Dec. 8-22. Bonaventure's lone loss this year was to Delaware, 61-49, which is ranked No. 19/20 in the nation. The Bonnies played that game without their starting point guard, Armelia Horton, who at that juncture was averaging just under 10 points per game.
With its victory against Marist on Sunday, the Brown and White extended its streak to six straight years of double-digit non-conference wins. The stretch is currently the longest in program history. The only other season aside from the previous five years that SBU claimed double-digit non-league wins was 1992-93 when it won 11.
Scouting Colgate
~ After losing its first 10 games of the year, the Raiders have won their last two – home against Wagner and at NJIT
~ Senior Tricia Oakes was named the Patriot League Player of the Week following her fifth career double-double in the 54-44 win over NJIT
~ Mariah Jones was named Rookie of the Week in the Patriot League after a game-high 16 points against NJIT
~ 'Gate returns 10 letterwinners from last year's team, including leading scorer Jhazmine Lynch, who this season is averaging a team-best 14.7 ppg
~ The Raiders lost to both Canisius and Niagara – teams the Bonnies have beaten by double figures this year
RPI Report #2 (Through Dec. 19)
This Week: 36
Last Week: 27
Strength of Schedule: 174
Vs. 1-25: 0-1
Vs. 26-50: 1-0
Vs. 51-100: 2-0
Vs. 101-200: 5-0
Vs. 201-342: 2-0
A-10 Ranking: 9/33
Next Up
St. Bonaventure will take a week break for the holiday season before returning to action against Villanova at the Monmouth University Hawks Holiday Classic on Dec. 29. The Wildcats, 8-2, are Receiving Votes in this week's ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, and have a ranking of 14 in the RPI. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m., and the Bonnies will face either Norfolk State or host Monmouth on the tournament's final day, Dec. 30.
