By Anthony Gannon
Sports Assignment Editor
After the women’s basketball team’s runner-up finish in the Atlantic 10 Championship, every player is back in the gym getting ready for the NCAA Tournament.
The women’s basketball team will learn its fate Monday, when the selection committee releases its bracket for the Women’s NCAA Tournament in a ESPN 7 p.m. special.
In ESPN’s latest Bracketology, Bonaventure grad Charlie Crème has the Bonnies as a No. 6 seed, playing UTEP, but nothing is final until the official seedings are released.
Coach Jim Crowley said the Brown and White will be looking for big contributions from its deep lineup. Junior forward Chelsea Bowker scored 17 ponts in the A 10 Tournament, including 10 in the quarterfinal game against La Salle. Her effort and contributions all season have been integral to the success of the team, according to Crowley.
“I’ve been so proud of her this year,” Crowley said. “She gives it her all on every play.”
Bowker, a New Waterford, Ohio native, attended Crestview High School and holds the Columbiana County record for boys’ and girls’ basketball with 2,012 career points.
She’s reached double-digit scoring in eight games so far this season, including a season-high 19 points against Marist Dec. 18. Her conference-play scoring highs came agiainst 13 points against 20-11 Duquesne Feb. 1, and an 11-point, six-rebound performance against 8-21 Massachusetts Feb. 8.
“Chelsea’s an incredibly versatile player and I’m just so happy to have her,” Crowley said. “She’s shown a lot of improvement over her time here so far, and this year she’s been outstanding for us.”
She began playing basketball in first grade in her school’s league and never left the court. Bowker is also a successful volleyball player.
“My town is very small, so to pass the time you had to play sports,” Bowker said. “We were 10 minutes from the nearest fast-food restaurant. It was a half hour to any kind of shopping. The courts are right in town.”
Corey and Michelle Bowker have four daughters. Chelsea and her twin sister, Brittany, came along first, and Chelsea’s two younger sisters, Jessica and Sydni, are 16 and 14, respectively. Her youngest sister, Sydni, the only other committed basketball player in the family, was the leading scorer on her league-champion seventh-grade team.
“My twin sister played for a little while, but she decided it wasn’t for her,” Bowker said. “My dad really pushed me with basketball. It was hard and there were times I wanted to quit, but now it’s like, ‘Wow, I really owe my parents.'”
The Bonnies’ record is focused on the single team goal decided before the season.
“Each year we get together as a team and decide our team goals,” Bowker said. “Last season we had 10 and this year we only had one: to make the NCAA Tournament.”
Bowker went to several schools on recruiting visits, but said the atmosphere and enthusiasm for basketball are what made her choose Bonaventure.
“We never expected things to work out this way,” Bowker said. “This whole season has felt like a dream- like it isn’t real. To be on the (16th)-ranked team in the country and hear about it from people I know? It just doesn’t feel real.”
The team’s success has been a surprise to everyone, including the coach.
“A few years ago, the program was regarded as ‘it didn’t matter,'” Crowley said following the Bonnies’ victory against Fordham Feb. 22.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen this year. Our school isn’t supposed to do this. We’re too small, and our area is secluded. It’s not supposed to happen here, but it just did. And no one can take away what’s happened here and what this team has done.”
UTEP finished their season 26-3 and a first place 15-1 Conference USA record.
gannonam10@bonaventure.edu
