Bonnies Women's Basketball 2023-24 Season Outlook

The 2023-24 St. Bonaventure women's basketball season gets underway Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1:30 p.m. at the Reilly Center when the Bonnies host D'Youville for an exhibition contest.

A NEW CHAPTER

• A familiar face returns to the St. Bonaventure bench this season as the Bonnies’ all-time winningest head coach Jim Crowley returns for his second stint with the Brown and White. He returns following seven seasons at Providence in the Big East.
• During his first tenure with the Bonnies, Crowley amassed 258 victories while leading to the program to six postseason appearances, including a NCAA Sweet 16 berth in 2012 and a NCAA Second Round appearance in 2016. Crowley also guided the Bonnies to the WNIT Quarterfinals in 2009 as well as second round berths in 2010, 2011 and 2014.
• Associate head coach Tiara Johnson and assistant coach Kelcie Rombach also return as familiar faces on the Bonnies sideline. Johnson enters her seventh season on staff at Bona’s, but her first as associate head coach after serving as an assistant coach from 2013-16 and the Director of Basketball Operations from 2010-2013. As a player, Johnson helped the Bonnies two postseason berths, starting 28 games as a junior in 2008-09. Rombach was named an assistant coach on Crowley’s staff at Providence in 2021 following a three-year stint as an assistant at Dartmouth. Prior to her time with the Big Green, Rombach served as the Associate Director of Player Development at Providence from 2016-18. As a student-athlete, Rombach played 96 games and helped Bonnies advance to the second round of the WNIT in 2014 and the NCAA Tournament Second Round in her final season (2016).
• Jim Brunelli also joins the coaching staff as an assistant, bringing 13 seasons of head coaching experience to the St. Bonaventure bench. He spent two seasons at Converse University in South Carolina. Brunelli ranks tied for second on the Gannon all-time wins list, guiding the Golden Knights to 105 wins. He also helped Anderson University (S.C.) to 82 victories and three conference titles. 

ROSTER BREAKDOWN

• The Bonnies return seven players from last season's roster, including seniors Maddie Dziezgowski (98 career made threes), Tianna Johnson (26.5 mpg), Claire Cody (27 games played), Nadechka Laccen (79 assists) and Payton Fields (25 games played) as well as junior Taylor Napper (27 starts) and sophomore Kirah Dandridge (30 steals).
• New to the squad in 2023-24 is senior transfer Dani Haskell, redshirt junior transfer Isabellah Middleton and sophomore Tamar voor de Poort. Haskell, a local product from Franklinville, N.Y., joins the Bonnies after three seasons at Canisius where she averaged 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 64 career games. Middleton, a 5-9 guard, comes to Bona’s after three seasons at Division II Slippery Rock. As a redshirt sophomore with The Rock in 2022-23, Middleton averaged 17.4 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while earning All-PSAC West honors. A 6-foot guard, voor de Poort joins the Bonnies from overseas in Doetinchem, Netherlands. She spent six seasons with Lekdetec.nl, three years on the junior squad and three seasons with the senior team.
• The 2023-24 roster is made up of players from five different states, including Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia as well as Puerto Rico and Netherlands.

EXPERIENCE IS KEY

• Nine out of the 10 players on the 2023-24 roster have collegiate playing experience (NCAA & NJCAA). Combined, the nine players have appeared in 549 contests – Nadecka Laccen (91 games played), Payton Fields (79), Maddie Dziezgowski (70), Tianna Johnson (69), Dani Haskell (64), Taylor Napper (58), Isabellah Middleton (40) and Kirah Dandridge (30).
• Bona’s is one of two Atlantic 10 teams without a true freshman on the roster and one of six teams in the NCAA not sporting a first-year player on the squad along with Saint Louis, Seattle, Old Dominion, Tennessee, Jacksonville State.

SCHEDULE NOTES

• The Bonnies and Coach Crowley officially kick off the new campaign Wednesday, Nov. 8 on the road at Niagara. It marks the 66th meeting between the Bonnies and Purple Eagles while it is just the seventh time the teams will meet in the season opener. The Bonnies have won the last four meetings while Coach Crowley has guided the Bonnies to wins in his last nine contests against the Purple Eagles.
• Bona travels to take on Buffalo Nov. 22 and will host Canisius at the Reilly Center Nov. 30. Crowley coached teams are 33-7 all-time against Big 4 opponents. 
• The Brown and White have a Dec. 2 date set at former Atlantic 10 member and current Big 12 foe West Virginia in Morgantown. The Bonnies are 5-18 against the Mountaineers all-time, but the Bonnies got the better of the WVU in the first round of the 2009 WNIT, earning a 68-63 victory.
• St. Bonaventure’s 2023-24 schedule features a pair of first-time opponents. The Bonnies travel to take on Loyola (MD) Nov. 25 and host Youngstown State Dec. 16.
• The Bonnies are slated to open the A-10 portion of their schedule against Loyola Chicago Dec. 30 at the Reilly Center. It marks the first time the Bonnies will begin conference play at home since the 2018-19 season.
• The new 18-game conference slate is highlighted by a national television date with Dayton Jan. 28 on CBS Sports Network. The Atlantic 10 moves to an 18-game schedule for the first time after playing a 16-game conference slate.
• SBU will also host La Salle (Jan. 10), George Washington (Jan. 14), Saint Joseph's (Jan. 24), Davidson (Jan. 31), Duquesne (Feb. 14), Fordham (Feb. 18), George Mason (Feb. 21) and Richmond (March 2).
• The Bonnies will also travel to take on Duquesne (Jan. 17), Loyola Chicago (Jan. 20), George Washington (Feb. 7), VCU (Feb. 10), Saint Louis (Feb. 25) and UMass (Feb. 28).