RV/RV St. Bonaventure (19-2, 6-0) @ La Salle (9-11, 3-2)
Saturday, Jan. 28 | 1 PM | Tom Gola Arena (4,000)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | La Salle | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
The game will be shown nationally on CBS Sports Network. In the Olean area, it can be found on channel 776. For those not in the Olean area, please click here and enter your zip code to find out what channel the game is on in your area. Additionally, a viewing party will take place at Randy's Up the River in Allegany (3767 S Nine Mile Rd) and all are invited to attend.
THERE IS NO ONLINE STREAM AVAILABLE FOR THIS GAME
Riding the second-longest winning streak in program history at eight games, St. Bonaventure – which is sitting just outside the top-25 in the Associated Press Poll – faces its second Philadelphia-based school this week as it looks to remain the lone unbeaten in conference play against La Salle on national TV.
The Bonnies received 42 points in the AP Poll, finishing as the No. 27 team in the country just five points out of the No. 25 position which is occupied by North Carolina. Bona will be looking for its fourth-straight 20-win season while maintaining its perfect road record. SBU owns the nation's best road mark at 8-0, one of only three unbeatens on the road in the country.
Bonaventure has won a program-best 10 consecutive regular-season A-10 games, which has shattered the previous record of four done on six occasions and twice under head coach Jim Crowley's tenure. SBU won its final four conference games last season, and has started with six straight victories in the league this year.
Already with a program-record seven wins in the month of January, the Bonnies will be looking to complete their first perfect January in school history. Bona is 6-0 in games played on Saturdays this year – the most wins on any day of the week – and it is a perfect 16-0 when shooting at least 40 percent from the floor. Additionally, the Brown and White is leading the nation in fewest turnovers per game, giving the ball away just 12 times per outing.
With a win, head coach Jim Crowley will even his career record for the first time since a 92-78 loss at Kent State on Nov. 19, 2000 – just his second game as Bonaventure's head coach. Crowley built a 39-37 record in three years as the head man of Keuka College, and following the defeat to Kent State had a 39-39 career mark. At one point during his Bonaventure tenure, Crowley had a 57-119 record (62 games below .500), but since then he has a mark of 116-57 (59 games over .500).
For the second time this year, senior leading scorers Jessica Jenkins and Megan Van Tatenhove enter the contest with the exact amount of career points (1,255). Heading into the Temple game, each had 1,185 career points. However, it its win over Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, it was the sophomore duo of Doris Ortega and CeCe Dixon which helped SBU remain at the top of the league ledger. Ortega tallied a career-high 20 points (previous high was 14), while Dixon scored six straight late in the game to finish with 10 points – already her ninth double-digit scoring outing of the season after doing that just once during her freshman year.
St. Bona's two largest margins of victory in series history have come in each of the last two years. Two seasons ago, SBU defeated La Salle by 19 points, 58-39, which was at that time the largest Bonaventure win in series history, until last season when it won by 20 points, 74-54.
Scouting La Salle
~ The Explorers have dropped two straight games after opening A-10 play at 3-0 as part of a six-game winning streak
~ La Salle has had a week off since losing at Richmond last Saturday
~ Brittany Wilson ranks fourth in the A-10 in scoring at 14.3 per game, but in conference games only she leads the league at 18.8 per outing
~ La Salle lost to St. John's, West Virginia, Charlotte and Richmond, while Bonaventure has defeated all of those teams
~ In all 11 of its losses, La Salle has been trailing with 5 minutes to play; Bonaventure is a perfect 17-0 when leading with 5 minutes to play
~ Head coach Jeff Williams has started nine different starting lineups this season, and a total of 10 of the Explorers' 13 players have at least one start
Next Up
St. Bonaventure will remain on the road as it heads to Pittsburgh to face Duquesne, a team the Bonnies have already defeated this season. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. between the Bonnies and Dukes.
