Sacred Heart (9-3) @ St. Bonaventure (12-2)
Tuesday, Jan. 3 | 2 PM | Reilly Center (5,480)
Free Admission
Game Notes: Sacred Heart | St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
St. Bonaventure closes the door on its non-conference schedule with a matinee affair against visiting Sacred Heart Tuesday. The Bonnies will be looking for a program-record 13th non-league regular-season victory. The 12 victories are currently tied with the 2007-08 and 2009-10 teams for the most wins in the regular season non-conference docket.
The Bonnies have raced to a 12-2 start despite not having a full complement of players and regular starters for half of their games. First Team Atlantic 10 selection Megan Van Tatenhove has missed four of the last five games as she recovers from a head injury. Earlier this year, starting senior point guard Armelia Horton missed three straight games. In both of SBU's losses, the Bonnies were missing Horton (Delaware) and Van Tatenhove (Villanova).
Both St. Bonaventure and Sacred Heart enter Tuesday's matchup as two of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation. The
Bonnies connect at a 76.3-percent clip, good for 18th in country, while the Pioneers hit 79.7 percent of theirs to check in 7th in the nation.
In last year's meeting with Sacred Heart, Bonaventure shot a season-high 52.4 percent from floor (22-42), including a 66.7-percent clip (10-15) from 3-point range, en route to a 62-54 win in Fairfield, Conn.
Senior Jessica Jenkins is coming off one of the best 3-point shooting performances of her career as she knocked down eight 3's in the Bona win over Norfolk State on Dec. 30. Jenkins went 7-8 from long range in the first half en route to finishing 8-10. The eight trifectas are one shy of tying the program and A-10 record for 3's in a game, of which Jenkins holds both.
Van Tatenhove – who is questionable 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.
While Jenkins leads the SBU scoring attack at 14.3 per game, Van Tatenhove – despite playing nearly 200 fewer minutes than Jenkins – has the most points (24) on the Bona roster in the final five minutes of games.
Scouting Sacred Heart
~ SHU has lost its last two games (Albany, Manhattan) after jumping out to a 9-1 start to the season
~ Callan Taylor is leading the Pioneers in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (10.2); among active players, she is currently the nation's leader in double-doubles with 45
~ In its lone other meeting with an Atlantic 10 school this year, Sacred Heart lost at Saint Joseph's, 63-54
~Gabrielle Washington (11.6 ppg) has been named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week three times already this year
~ All three of the Pioneers' losses have come on the road
Next Up
St. Bonaventure tips off Atlantic 10 Conference action on Saturday against rival Duquesne. Game time is set for 1 p.m. from the Reilly Center.
