Duquesne (12-3) @ St. Bonaventure (13-2)
Saturday, Jan. 7 | 1 PM | Reilly Center (5,480)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Duquesne | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
The 13-2 St. Bonaventure Bonnies and 12-3 Duquesne Dukes renew their rivalry Saturday as two of the best teams in the Atlantic 10 commence league action. It will be the second consecutive year the Bonnies and Dukes open their conference schedules against each other.
The contest will be a battle of contrasting styles, as Duquesne leads the A-10 in scoring (72.2 per game – the only A-10 team which averages 70+), while Bonaventure ranks second in the A-10 in defense, allowing just 51.4 points per outing. Perhaps more importantly, Duquesne forces a conference-leading 12.5 steals per game, while Bonaventure leads the A-10 in fewest turnovers at just 12.6 per game. That total leads not only the A-10, but ranks the Bonnies second in the entire nation in that category.
The Bonnies finished last season tied for third in the A-10 with a 9-5 conference mark. The finish was the highest in program history. Despite returning 92 percent of its scoring and all five starters, SBU was picked sixth in preseason voting. Duquesne was tabbed for a third-place finish in the league.
The Brown and White will play five of its next six games against teams ranked in the top-100 of the RPI, and four inside the top-50, beginning today with the Dukes. Of its first six conference games, the Bonnies will battle four of the five teams picked ahead of them in the A-10 preseason rankings (Duquesne, 3rd; @ Temple, T-1st; @ Charlotte, 4th; Saint Joseph's, 5th).
Duquesne and St. Bonaventure split their two meetings last year, with each team winning on its respective home court. After dropping a 60-54 decision at the A.J. Palumbo Center in the A-10 opener, the Bonnies responded with a 70-63 triumph at the Reilly Center. In that outing, Jessica Jenkins scored what was then a career high of 31 points behind a then-career-best eight 3-pointers to overcome just a four-point performance from Megan Van Tatenhove.
Bonaventure opens its conference slate riding a five-game unbeaten streak in the A-10, good for the second-best stretch in the league. After getting off to a 5-5 start last season, the Bonnies won their final four games of the league docket. Only Xavier, which went 14-0 last year in conference action, begins the season with a longer unbeaten streak in league play.
Van Tatenhove, who returned to the lineup with 19 minutes of action against Sacred Heart Tuesday, needs just one rebound to become the ninth member of the school's 1,000 Point & 500 Rebound Club. The Wisconsin native had missed four of the previous five games (prior to Sacred Heart) with concussion-like symptoms. She enters today's game with 1,172 career points and 499 career rebounds.
Tuesday's 67-63 win over Sacred Heart was the first game this year the Bonnies had that was decided by five points or less. The win was also the first on a Tuesday this season as Bona now has wins on every day of the week, including a perfect 3-0 mark on Saturdays.
Scouting Duquesne
~ Duquesne will not have the services of senior point guard Vanessa Abel, who is out 3-6 weeks with a stress fracture of the patella in her left leg; Abel, who has started every game this season, is averaging 8.7 points per game and ranks third in the A-10 with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio
~ The Dukes are coming off a 56-49 loss at James Madison Wednesday night to conclude their non-conference schedule
~ Duquesne and Bonaventure have each defeated Buffalo and West Virginia this year
~ Head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio (Penn State, '88) was a First Team All-American at Penn State, won a gold medal at the Olympics in 1988, was named the 1998 Newcomer of the Year in the WNBA and won the 2004 WNBA Coach of the Year with the Minnesota Lynx
~ Duquesne won an NCAA record 14 road games last season
Next Up
St. Bonaventure continues league action on Wednesday, Jan. 11, when it faces Temple in Philadelphia. The Owls were picked to finish first in the A-10 along with Dayton, as the two teams shared the 14 first-place votes. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
