St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Atlantic 10 (29-3, 14-0)
Coach Jim Crowley led St. Bonaventure to their first regular season title in school history during the 2011-2012 campaign. Not only did the Bonnies win the Atlantic 10; they did it in style, becoming the seventh team in conference history to go undefeated during the regular season. The Bonnies only regular season losses were to non-conference foes Delaware and Villanova. With wins over St. John’s and West Virginia, not to mention everybody in the very strong A-10, this is a team that can do some damage in March.
Big Wins: 11/12 at St. John’s (64-58), 11/18 at West Virginia (56-48), 2/11 at Dayton (56-55)
Bad Losses: 11/27 Delaware (49-61), 12/29 vs Villanova (44-55), 3/5 vs Dayton (53-56)
Coach: Jim Crowley (12 seasons at St. Bonaventure)
Why They Can Surprise:
St. Bonaventure rarely beats themselves. This team rarely turns the ball over and always takes smart shots. The offense is not prolific by any means since they will slow down the tempo and work the opposing defense. Taking smart shots is one thing, but somebody needs to make those shots too. The Bonnies are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the nation. Jessica Jenkins connects on over three three-pointers per game and shoots about 40 percent from long range. Those are some impressive numbers. Jenkins does not get to the line very often, in fact she does not get their enough to qualify for the NCAA’s free-throw percentage leaders, but she is one of the best free-throw shooters in the entire nation. Cece Dixon is a good shooter too. Dixon, a 5-3 sophomore, will usually provide an offensive spark off of the bench with her ability to connect from long range and drive to the basket. Forward Chelsea Bowker is another consistent shooter and will stretch out the defense when she is on the floor. The Bonnies may be a little undersized in the frontcourt compared to some of the teams they will run into during the NCAA Tournament, but Megan Van Tatenhove is a fine rebounder and a very good interior scorer. With strong rebounding guards like Armelia Horton and Alaina Walker, St. Bonaventure can usually stay in the black in the rebounding department.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The Bonnies play very tough defense. They will not steal many passes or block a lot of shots. They are not flashy or fancy, but it is a tough unit to crack. However, the Bonnies could have a tough time against a big, versatile post player. If they are not blocking shots or stopping the feed into the paint, there is not much the Bonnies can do to stop some players. That was the case against Delaware and Elena Delle Donne back in November. Delle Donne scored 26 points and grabbed 18 rebounds against the Bonnies and nobody could stop her. Eventually St. Bonaventure will run into a post player that they cannot stop, but until then this team will have an interesting game or two against a higher seeded opponent.
Probable Starters:
Jessica Jenkins, Senior, Guard, 14.3 ppg, 1.0 apg
Alaina Walker, Junior, Guard, 6.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg
Armelia Horton, Senior, Guard, 7.0 ppg, 1.9 apg, 5.0 rpg
Doris Ortega, Sophomore, Forward, 7.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg
Megan Van Tatenhove, Senior, Forward, 13.4 ppg, 6.0 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Jennie Ashton, Senior, Forward, 1.9 ppg
Chelsea Bowker, Junior, Forward, 7.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Cece Dixon, Sophomore, Guard, 7.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg
Jordan McGee, Junior, Guard, 1.0 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 64.2 (128th in nation, 7th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 53.0 (21, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 41.9 (56, 6)
Field-Goal Defense: 36.3 (53, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.4 (49, 3)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.3 (7, 2)
Free-Throw Percentage: 75.4 (24, 2)
Rebound Margin: 2.3 (109, 7)
Assists Per Game: 10.5 (286, 12)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.6 (1, 1)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
St. Bonaventure 2011 NIT Round of 64 win over Lehigh
St. Bonaventure 2011 NIT Round of 32 loss to Syracuse
St. Bonaventure 2010 NIT Round of 64 win over Robert Morris
St. Bonaventure 2010 NIT Round of 32 loss to Northwestern
St. Bonaventure 2009 NIT Second Round win over West Virginia
St. Bonaventure 2009 NIT Third Round win over Wisconsin
St. Bonaventure 2009 NIT Fourth Round loss to South Florida
*all team stats through 3/1
See All Women’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
