The Bonnies Baseline feature series focuses on Bona players and their stories on and off the court. To read previous installments in the series click here.

If there were a crown for being the Big 4 Queen, it would currently reside with St. Bonaventure graduate student Aaliyah Parker.

A star for three seasons at Niagara, she officially became a winner against every Western New York Division I program when her new Bonnies squad recorded a commanding 74-56 win over her former Purple Eagles mates on Nov. 7 followed by a triumph vs. Buffalo Nov. 19, capping Bona's season sweep of Big 4 rivals.

The Cheektowaga native has certainly represented the 716 well over her college career.

She's approaching 1,500 career points and 700 rebounds, making her one of just 27 active players nationally to achieve those numbers. Her 312 career steals stand fifth among all active players while her 2.84 steals per game are behind only Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and Ny'Ceara Pryor of Texas A&M.

Through the ups and downs of a memorable career, she's proud to have stayed true to her roots.

"I have so much pride in being from Western New York. We get overlooked a lot," she said. "Being able to represent where I'm from and having all the support locally, I just have so much pride."

Staying close to home was never in doubt for the Cardinal O'Hara product who followed her older sister Angel's footsteps to play together at Niagara.

Basketball has always been a uniting force in Parker's family; she has two other older sisters who played collegiately at Niagara County Community College as well.

While at Niagara, the pair each posted 1,000-point careers while helping the program to runs in the WNIT in 2023 and 2024.

"We had a really big backyard. My dad put a hoop in and we would always go in the backyard and play," she said. "Not many people get the opportunity to play with their sibling at the Division I level. It was a really cool experience I'm grateful for."

In addition to being one of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's top scorers, Parker earned a reputation as a tenacious defender. She racked up 106 steals in her sophomore season alone, including a career-high of 11 swipes in a single game vs. Rider that season.

"I love playing defense. I played pressing defense in AAU, high school and then at Niagara. Defense has always been my first thought," she said.

Parker scored nearly 17 points per game that year, adding almost eight rebounds per contest as she stuffed the stat sheet on the regular.

But it was also that year when she suffered her first concussion, taking a hit to the temple during a practice.

Then, during her junior year, she suffered another concussion which was worse. Her blue-collar playing style helped make her one of the region's best players, but it came at a price.

"I would take charges and I'd hit my head on the floor; it just kept happening," she said. "After the season I was having a lot of head pain. Medicine wouldn't help."

She put together a strong 2023-24 season, finishing with 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while nearly hitting 100 steals again, but concussion symptoms began to take their toll.

"It got to where it was hard to walk, or I would slur my words. I had involuntary movement in my arm. I was extremely scared," she remembers. "I honestly thought I wouldn't play basketball again. I would try to do workouts and I couldn't get through a 15-minute workout. I realized I had to take time off and heal."

Concussions forced her to take a full year away from competitive basketball as she redshirted the 2024-25 season.

Slowly, she began to improve. After the year, she was cleared to give basketball another try.

With one year of eligibility remaining, she opted for a change but remained close to home as she moved from one WNY program to another.

"I came on a visit and that's when I knew I wanted to be here," she said.

She made an immediate impact against those WNY rivals: 10 points in a victory at Niagara; 22 points and 12 boards vs. Canisius; 16 points and seven rebounds vs. Buffalo.

"I was so happy (to cap off a career Big 4 sweep)," she exclaimed. "Finally got all of them this year."

As January comes to a close, she's averaging nearly 12.5 points, six rebounds and two steals per game.

Her concussion history has not cost her any playing time this season as she's started every game thus far. Recently, she has started wearing a new 'Q-collar' to protect against concussions during practices and games.

She says she isn't quite as aggressive as she previously was but has had less hesitation on the court as the season goes along. She previously had aspirations of playing professionally overseas, but now has eyes set on going into coaching instead following graduation.  

Her return to the court has allowed Parker to be part of Bona's rebuilding process and gives her the unique perspective of seeing that project both as a current player and from the outside as an opponent.

"I definitely see the program being on the way up," she said. "The coaches did a really good job of recruiting; especially keeping kids in New York. Our chemistry is really good. I thought it was going to be a big adjustment (transferring for her final season), but it felt like another family from the time I got here."