By Harrison Leone
Sports Assignment Editor
Life on the road was not kind to the women’s basketball team last season. Away from the friendly confines of the Reilly Center, the Bonnies lost 12 of 14 games, only recording victories against Little Three rivals Buffalo and Niagara; in conference play, the team was winless away.
The road schedule for the 2013-’14 campaign seemed to be heading in a similar direction as the Brown and White tipped off their regular season in inauspicious fashion, falling to NC State in Raleigh, 70-47, last Friday.
Head Coach Jim Crowley said his team welcomed the opportunity to play on the road and face an opponent from a power conference. The NC State Wolfpack were picked to finish ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
“We’ve got to get better on the road, so we went out and played some road games. We wanted to play in a situation that would be difficult for us,” Crowley said. “(NC State’s) an ACC school with ACC resources, size and athletes. We got a little too worried about all of that instead of just doing what we wanted to do, but it was good experience.”
St. Bonaventure began the game cold from the floor, shooting 5-18 in the first half. The Wolfpack hardly fared better than SBU, hitting 11 of 40 shots, but they were able to sink six threes during the half. Entering the locker room, Crowley’s squad found themselves facing a 16-point deficit, trailing 37-21.
One of the few bright spots for the Bonnie’s during the early going was redshirt freshman Gabriella Richmond. Richmond, playing in her first regular season contest for SBU, scored the team’s first seven points. She would finish the game as the leading scorer and rebounder on the floor, tallying 18 points while grabbing nine boards in 28 minutes of play.
“She played really hard, and she’s understanding her role,” Crowley said “She played two great games this weekend. There’s no reason she can’t be consistent with it.”
Out of the gate, things went from bad to worse to abysmal for St. Bonaventure. NC State blew open the game with a 21-0 run to start the second half. The Wolfpack defense throttled the Bonnies’ offensive game as SBU was held scoreless for the nine minutes after intermission.
The inside game was strong for SBU, racking up 22 points to NC State’s 14. SBU was also able to get to the free throw line twice as often as NC State and shot only 71 percent, or 20 of 28.
“It’s a lot easier to make baskets close to the hoop,” Crowley said. “We’ve got a couple good players down there, and we want to get the ball close to the rim as much as possible.”
Senior Chelsea Bowker, coming back from an ankle injury that kept her sidelined all of last season, was perfect from the foul line, hitting all six of her shots. Crowley said Bowker’s resiliency and ability to play through injury are some of her greatest strengths.
“She’s as tough as the day is long,” Crowley said. “Most people would have bagged it, but she’s such a competitor, and she wants to get out there and play for her teammates.”
Bowker’s accuracy from distance is an integral part of the Bonnies’ offensive attack. The respect the defense must pay to her shot will open up the baseline for her teammates.
“She shoots the ball so well, and she’s experienced with the way we play,” Crowley said. “The defense has to pay attention to her, which extends the defense out and opens the floor up for us to operate inside.”
One of the most glaring flaws in the Bonaventure game was the inability to protect the ball. NC State forced 22 turnovers from the Brown and White, scoring more than a third of the total points, off these miscues. The Bonnies forced 13 turnovers themselves, but were only able to turn those into five points.
“It was a big issue in both of our games,” Crowley said. “Our hope is that with more experience in practice and how we play, those turnovers will go down. We’re really not being forced into them. They’re travels, they’re bad passes. Hopefully, through reps and films and exercises, we’ll get that corrected.”
St. Bonaventure was left with little time to dwell on this defeat, heading north to Hamilton, N.Y. to face the Colgate Raiders of the Patriot League last Sunday.
In Colgate, things turned around for SBU. The Bonnies’ grabbed control of the lead in the early going and never looked back, keeping the Raiders at bay and holding on for a 77-72 victory. Crowley said he hopes that the win will help give his team momentum for the rest of the season.
“I hope it’s very significant, getting our first win,” Crowley said. “We have some confidence things we’ve got to work on. Colgate gave us everything they had, but ultimately, we made the plays that we needed.”
Sophomore Katie Healy led the Bonnies in scoring, exploding for a career-high 21 points on 50 percent (5-10) shooting, including 11 free throws. Healy also led the team in rebounds with nine and assists with four.
Healy was one of four Bonnies who tallied double digit points. Bowker was deadly from beyond the arc, hitting four of six threes, and continued her perfect free throw shooting, going four for four and finishing with 18 points. Richmond followed up her strong performance in Raleigh with 16 points and seven rebounds against the Raiders. Sophomore guard Nyla Reuter chipped in 12 points of her own, adding a team-high two blocks.
Next up for the Bonnies will be a three-game homestand, beginning tonight at 7 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. The Bonnies will welcome Fairfield on Saturday and then play host to Little Three rival Niagara on Tuesday. Crowley said he hopes the games in front of a friendly crowd will reveal even more about his young squad.
“We would really like to see us have more excitement and comfort playing the game,” Crowley said. “We want to really learn about each other, what we have to get better at, who we are as a team. It seems little bit daunting, but we think it will pay dividends in January and February.”
