By Taylor Nigrelli
Sports Editor
Before the women’s basketball team’s scrimmage against Edinboro last November, a fellow reporter and friend asked me how I thought the team would finish in conference play.
“No better than two wins,” I told him. After the team finished 3-11 in conference play last season, lost two major contributors to graduation, one to major injury and then removed three more from the team, the program seemed to be in shambles.
If the team couldn’t win with such talented players as Alaina Walker, Ashley Zahn and Doris Ortega, how could it win without them?
To make matters appear worse, the Bonnies added just three freshmen (including Gabby Richmond, who red-shirted her true freshman year), no transfers and one walk-on. Chelsea Bowker, who missed all of the 2012-2013 season, rejoined the team.
The team obviously had little depth and even less experience. Outside of Bowker, no team member had more than one year of playing experience. The only other upperclassmen was walk-on Jill Murphy who had spent the past four years playing softball.
While the sophomore class showed loads of potential as freshmen, it didn’t appear to be enough to push the team to top last year’s disastrous campaign.
It seemed impossible the team could compete in the Atlantic 10 with an eight-player rotation and only one true upperclassman. What if someone got hurt? What if the freshmen weren’t ready? What if a few players got in foul trouble in the same game?
The Bonnies (19-7, 8-3) lost to St. Louis (10-14, 5-6) Wednesday, perhaps for no other reason than they had to lose eventually.
Prior to the game, the Bonnies won seven conference games in a row, including three blowout wins and a double-digit comeback win over that same St. Louis team. After a couple of rough losses to loaded Connecticut and Marist teams early in the season, the team won 13 of 16 games, putting them at 19-6 on the season (before falling to St. Louis).
Not only has the team not fallen apart, matched last year or even just slightly improved, it has re-established St. Bonaventure as a legitimate women’s basketball contender.
The Bonnies likely won’t return to the Sweet 16 this season, but it’s a distinct possibility in the next two seasons. That may seem like a stretch, but I’d be foolish to put it past Head Coach Jim Crowley at this point. In all likelihood, he’ll get 20 plus wins out of an incredibly young team with an eight-player rotation.
Imagine what the team could look like next year with a deeper bench, a healthy Ashley Zahn and another year of experience for its litany of young players.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the current sophomores continue to develop. Both Nyla Rueter and Hannah Little earned “Atlantic 10 Player of the Week” honors from separate publications last week, and it’s easy to make a case for both.
Rueter’s energy, variety of skills and basketball IQ stand out every time she’s on the court. Little’s earning of the honor likely stems from her Lanier-like 18 rebound performance in a win against Saint Joseph’s last week.
Then there’s Emily Michael, whose savvy ball-handling, patience, defensive ability and vision make it hard to believe she’s only 20 years old. Some may criticize her lack of scoring productivity, but that shows a lack of understanding of Michael’s game. She’s certainly not an elite scorer, but she possesses a multitude of impressively mature attributes that make her a perfect fit for the point guard position.
Then, of course, there’s the team’s most talented and highly-praised player, Katie Healy. The forward has been praised by ESPN among many others for her impressive play on the court. She’s averaging 15.8 points and eight rebounds per game, a rarity for such a young player.
But there’s more to this team than a talented sophomore class. There’s Chelsea Bowker and there’s three promising freshman who have shown more poise than many in their position would have.
Most importantly there’s Crowley and his acute understanding of the pieces he has to work with. And as long as the Bonnies have both of those, there will be plenty to look forward to.
Taylor Nigrelli is the sports editor of The Bona Venture. His email is nigreltn11@bonaventure.edu.
