ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – St. Bonaventure shook off first half rust on the way to a 68-56 victory on Opening Night over D'Youville at the Reilly Center.
Freshman Ella Trinkaus made her debut a memorable one as she powered the Bonnies off the bench, draining 8-of-12 field goal attempts for a game-high 21 points.
Sophomore Elyse MacDonough added 15 points while senior Brillana Boyd celebrated her birthday with 12 points and five rebounds along with two steals.
Things started frosty on the offensive end for the Bonnies as a quick 4-0 opening changed to an 8-0 D'Youville run as SBU went 5-for-15 from the floor in the first quarter.
The Saints opened up a 10-point lead early in the second quarter before the Bonnies started to thaw.
Sophomore guard Mallory Heise, in her first official game action since suffering a torn ACL this past February, gave the Bonnies a spark off the bench before Trinkaus provided the Bonnies with another reserve boost.
In her debut collegiate game, Trinkaus powered a 12-2 run with her first eight collegiate points as the Bonnies pulled back within a point at halftime.
Bona kept the momentum out of the locker room, connecting on eight of their first 10 attempts from the floor to run the hosts' lead to double digits for the first time.
D'Youville would not go away, however, embarking on a 13-2 sprint to close back within 51-48 at the 8:30 mark of the final quarter.
MacDonough helped to turn the tide for good with her trey to extend the advantage back to 58-50 with just over five and a half minutes to play.
St. Bonaventure locked in down the stretch, holding the Saints to 3-of-14 shooting from the floor in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.
GAME NOTES
- Bonnies head coach Jim Crowley moves to 17-3 in home openers with the Bonnies and extended his winning streak to 15 straight seasons in RC debuts.
- Trinkaus scored more points than any Bonnies freshman in a season opener during the past two decades. The last time any Bona's player registered more points in an opener came with future Bonnies Hall of Famer Jessica Jenkins' 22-point effort in a 2010 win over Binghamton.
- The Bonnies, thanks in large part to Trinkaus who played 27 minutes off the bench, outscored D'Youville by a 33-3 margin in bench points.
- Bona dominated the paint, 30-12.
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JIM CROWLEY
"I thought we did a good job getting the ball where we wanted to. We didn't finish like we are capable of; we were a little slow defensively. I thought we made some good strides (in Saturday's exhibition game) defensively. In the end, it was really good for us, our kids have to understand how hard it is to win and everyone is coming after us."Â
"I think we were just a step slow in the first half. We did a good job cleaning that up. D'Youville is an experienced team; their players have been playing with each other and they run their stuff well. We were a step slower with our communication and they took advantage of it."Â
"Trinkaus can really shoot it and she's a really smart player. She creates a ton of opportunities by reading where the ball is and moving. I thought her teammates did a really good job finding her in sports to be successful."
UP NEXT
The Bonnies will have several days to break down film and prepare for their next challenge on Wednesday, Nov. 11 as Mercyhurst visits for a 4:30 p.m. tip. That game will be the opener of a doubleheader with the Bonnies men's game to follow at the Reilly Center.
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