#19/22 St. Bonaventure (26-2, 13-0) @ Rhode Island (1-27, 0-13)
Saturday, Feb. 25 | 4:30 PM | Thomas M. Ryan Center (7,657)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Rhode Island | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies | #JJ4POY
No. 19/22 St. Bonaventure, which has already clinched the No. 1 seed at next week's 2012 Buick Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship, will look to become the just the seventh team in A-10 history to go undefeated through the conference slate as it travels to Rhode Island for a Saturday late matinee.
Bonaventure earned at least a share of the school's first regular-season championship with a win over Fordham on Wednesday evening. A victory against URI would give SBU the title outright, but it clinched the top seed with Wednesday's win due to a 74-65 triumph at Temple earlier this season.
The Bonnies own the nation's best road team as they are 12-0 on the year, one of just three unbeatens on the road (No. 1 Baylor – 9-0; No. 12 Green Bay – 10-0). The 12 wins are tied for the second most in the country.
Currently sitting at 13-0 in the A-10, the Bonnies' previous-best conference record was 9-5 – a mark set each of the last three years. St. Bonaventure (enrollment: 2,000; Olean population: 14,000) is looking to join Xavier, George Washington, Temple and former A-10 member West Virginia as the only schools to run the league regular-season table.
Xavier (enrollment: 7,000; Cincinnati population: 297,000) and George Washington (enrollment: 20,000; Washington D.C. population: 618,000) have each run the table twice, while Temple (enrollment: 37,000; Philadelphia population: 1.5 million) and West Virginia (enrollment: 29,000; Morgantown population: 30,000) has each gone undefeated once.
The Bonnies are riding a program-best 15-game winning streak. They already own program records for wins in December (seven) and January (eight), and with a victory over Rhode Island will set a February record with their seventh triumph.
Rhode Island – which has lost 25 games in a row – ranks last in the A-10 in both scoring offense and scoring defense at 49.8 per game and 66.6 per game, respectively. Meanwhile, SBU leads the league in scoring defense at 53.8 per game – a category they have led in the conference each of the last two years.
Scouting Rhode Island
~ The Rams rank sixth in the A-10 in free-throw shooting and 3-point percentage, but are either last or second-to-last in 15 statistical league categories
~ In Rhody's lone win of the season it was leading at the half
~ Ashley Rivera leads the Rams in scoring, and is the lone Rhode Island player to average double-figure points at 11 per game
~ URI has been outscored on average by nearly 21 points in their 13 conference games
~ The matchup with St. Bonaventure will be the second half of a doubleheader with the men's team which faces Saint Louis in the opening contest
~ Rhode Island will honor its three seniors prior to the game
Next Up
St. Bonaventure, which has received a bye in the First Round of the A-10 Championship, will open tournament play at Hagan Arena on Saint Joseph's campus on Saturday, March 3, at Noon. The Bonnies will play the winner of the 8-9 game, which has yet to be finalized.
