Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Charlotte | Atlantic 10
St. Bona (18-10, 8-5 A-10) vs. Charlotte (21-7, 9-4)
Saturday, Feb. 26 | 2 p.m. | Reilly Center (5,480)
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The women's basketball team has won three straight games, and for the second consecutive year will be looking to end the regular season on a four-game winning streak as it continues to fight for position in the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Saturday against Charlotte in a game televised nationally by CBS College Sports (CSTV). The Bonnies enter Saturday's game against Charlotte in a four-way tie for fourth, and the final first-round bye in the tournament. With a win, Bonaventure keeps its hopes alive for a bye, and will finish no lower than seventh with a loss. In other A-10 games of significance Saturday, Richmond (8-5) hosts Saint Louis (1-12) , Rhode Island (1-12) travels to Duquesne (8-5) and Dayton (8-5) entertains Fordham (4-9). Saint Joseph's (7-6) plays at George Washington (3-10) Sunday. If all the teams currently tied for fourth win, a five-way tie at 9-5 would result in Duquesne getting the third seed, Charlotte the fourth, Richmond the fifth, Dayton the sixth and St. Bonaventure the seventh. The A-10 tiebreakers for multi-team ties are 1) Head-to-head records against the tied teams as a group and 2) Winning percentage against opponents starting with No. 1 seed and going down. However, scenarios still exist for the Bonnies to finish as high as third with losses by fellow 8-5 teams and a victory Saturday over the 49ers.
Last Time Out
Down 39-26 with 16 minutes left in the second half Wednesday afternoon, St. Bonaventure staged a furious comeback behind sophomore Chelsea Bowker and junior Megan Van Tatenhove to fend off a Saint Louis (7-21, 1-12 A-10) upset bid, 60-55.
Bona Bites
The game will be the first ever women's game from the Reilly Center broadcast on national television … senior Amanda Johnson will be making her first career start Saturday … junior Megan Van Tatenhove is 18 points shy of becoming the 17th member of St. Bonaventure's 1,000-point club … with a win Saturday, the Bonnies will have won their 19th game of the campaign, giving them the third-most wins in a single season – with the top two seasons being the last two … for the third consecutive year, St. Bonaventure could finish in a tie for fourth place in the A-10 and be seeded seventh in the conference tournament … in the win against Saint Louis Wednesday, Bonaventure was perfect from the free throw line in the second-half (10-10) for the first time in A-10 play and tied a season high by netting 40 second-half points en route to its first road win of the year when trailing at the half.
Scouting Charlotte
-- The 49ers were picked to finish 4th in the preseason A-10 rankings
-- Charlotte is ranked in the top 50 in the nation in nine different statistical categories
-- Senior Shannon McCallum leads a trio of Charlotte double-digit point scorers at 12.4 per game
-- The 49ers are 6-0 this year following a loss (lost their last game)
-- Charlotte has had a player score at least 20 points 10 times this year
-- The 49ers suffered just their second defeat (18-2) of the year when leading at the half in their game against Duquesne
-- Charlotte is 14-0 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponent
St. Bonaventure vs. Charlotte
Series Quick Facts
Overall: Charlotte Leads, 4-2
At St. Bonaventure: Tied, 1-1
At Charlotte: Charlotte Leads, 3-0
At Neutral Site: St. Bonaventure Leads, 1-0
Most St. Bonaventure Points: 78 (Nov. 28, 1998: 78-52)
Most Charlotte Points: 86 (Feb. 25, 2007: 86-74)
Fewest St. Bonaventure Points: 39 (Feb. 10, 2006: 73-39)
Fewest Charlotte Points: 52 (Nov. 28, 1998: 78-52)
Largest St. Bonaventure Margin: 26 (Nov. 28, 1998: 78-52)
Largest Charlotte Margin: 34 (Feb. 10, 2006: 73-39)
Karen Aston is in her fourth season at the helm of the 49ers women's basketball program. In her first season at Charlotte, she guided the 49ers to 18 wins and a berth in the WNIT. Out of the 30 rookie head coaches in Division I in 2009, she was one of only five to lead their team to postseason play. In her second season at Charlotte, she helped the 49ers capture the 2009 A-10 Tournament title, which is the program's first conference tournament title. The 49ers reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history while winning 23 games in 2008-09. In her third season, she guided the 49ers to the A-10 Tournament semifinals and the second-round of the WNIT.
Aston became the seventh head coach in the 34-year history of the program on April 27, 2007. She came to Charlotte after spending 13 years coaching at the NCAA Division I level in the state of Texas.
She spent the 2006-07 season as associate head coach at Baylor. She helped the Bears with 26 games and reach the second-round of the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to joining the Baylor coaching staff in 2006, she spent eight years as a member of Hall of Fame Coach Jody Conradt's staff at the University of Texas (1998-2006). She was associate head coach her last six seasons in Austin. While at Texas, she was the Longhorns' recruiting coordinator and on the court she primarily worked with the defense and post players.
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