Saint Louis (6-11, 0-2) @ RV St. Bonaventure (15-2, 2-0)
Saturday, Jan. 14 | 1 PM | Reilly Center (5,480)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Saint Louis | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
St. Bonaventure, Receiving Votes (RV) in the Associated Press Poll for the third time this season, looks to extend its best-ever start to a season and move to 3-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference as it host Saint Louis Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center.
The Bonnies will be looking to make history with a win over the Billikens as it will push their A-10 record to 3-0 for the first time in program history. Just three previous times has a Bona team started 2-0 in A-10 play (1990-91, 2001-02, 2008-09), but none were able to get to 3-0.
Bonaventure has won four games in a row – already the third separate time this season that it has had a four-game winning streak. Since joining the Division I ranks prior to the 1986-87 season, only one team – the 2008-09 club – has had three different four-game winning streaks during the course of a season. However, no team in DI program history has had three separate four-game winning streaks this early in a season as the 2011-12 Bonnies.
The Brown and White enter action against Saint Louis riding the longest unbeaten streak in regular-season conference action. The Bonnies have won six straight A-10 games in the regular season. After getting off to a 5-5 mark in league play last year, Bona won its last four games to finish tied for 3rd in the standings at 9-5. Only Xavier, which went 14-0 in the A-10 last year, entered this season with a longer unbeaten streak, but it has dropped it first two league games this campaign.
The Bonnies are coming off a 74-65 win at preseason A-10 favorite Temple Wednesday evening. The victory was already the second triumph over a team that the A-10 coaches picked ahead of SBU in preseason voting. Bona was picked 6th, but last Saturday knocked off preseason 3rd-place Duquesne before doing the same to the Owls in Philadelphia. On an individual level, the win against Temple was the 100th in the career of redshirt senior Armelia Horton, who is already the winningest player in either men's or women's basketball history at St. Bonaventure.
Against Temple, the lineup of Alaina Walker, Jessica Jenkins, Armelia Horton, Doris Ortega and Megan Van Tatenhove started together for the first time since Dec. 10 versus Buffalo. That starting quintet is now 7-0 on the year. Van Tatenhove and Horton missed a combined seven games due to concussion-like symptoms earlier in the year, and in both of Bona's losses it was missing either Horton (Delaware) or Van Tatenhove (Villanova).
The win over the Owls also moved Bonaventure's road record to 7-0, and that is the best road mark in the entire nation. Only No. 5 Maryland, which lost at No. 11 Miami on Thursday, had a 6-0 road record entering the week, but the 'Terps are now 6-1 away from home.
In its first "Bracketology" of the year announced on Monday, ESPN predicted the Bonnies as a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Scouting Saint Louis
~ Two of SLU's top three scorers are not regular starters; Courtney Webb (11.4 ppg) and Jacy Bradley (8.6 ppg) have started just four and six games, respectively, and none in A-10 play
~ With a loss, SLU would have dropped its third game in a row for the third time already this year
~ The Billikens opened A-10 action with a 53-52 loss at home to La Salle last Saturday, and dropped a 61-52 decision at Charlotte on Wednesday
~ SLU has remained on the road since it left for Charlotte on Tuesday
~ In last year's matinee mid-week meeting in Saint Louis, the Billikens held a 29-20 halftime lead before the Bonnies exploded for 40 second-half points for a come-from-behind 60-55 win on SLU's Senior Day
Next Up
St. Bonaventure remains at home as it faces surprising 13-3 Richmond on Wednesday evening. The Spiders – who own the second-most wins in the A-10 along with Duquesne – were picked to finish 8th in the conference. Tipoff is set for 7 from the Reilly Center.
