By Jonathan Sawyer
Sports Assignment Editor
RICHMOND – The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team’s run in the A10 Tournament was cut short Friday afternoon, as they were defeated by the fifth seed Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams, 59-50.
The Bonnies got off to a fast start scoring the first six points of the game, taking a 6-2 lead. That was about it for the Bonnies as they couldn’t get into any rhythm offensively and struggled early with foul trouble. The pain was added on with nine seconds left in the half. VCU’s Isis Thorpe nails a jumper then steals the inbound and hits an acrobatic three at the buzzer to put the Rams up 14 at the half. The Bonnies were 6-26 (23.1 percent) from the field and 1-11 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Head Coach Jim Crowley talked about how the Rams weren’t allowing the Bonnies to score in the first half.
“Their defensive pace was above our offensive pace,” Crowley said. “They were getting to the spots quicker than we were, they were taking away our cutters, we posted down low and they attacked the base line.”
Senior forward Katie Healy said that VCU did a good job getting ready for them.
“To VCU’s credit they did a pretty good scout base.” Healy said. “They took away a lot that we were good at and in the locker room we were talking about how we were settling and we weren’t getting a lot of action like we usually do.”
The Bonnies made a strong come back in the third quarter cutting the lead to 10. Then came out in the fourth quarter with a strong effort. They brought the game within three, but an offensive rebound by VCU’s Ashley Pegram started a nine to three run, which was enough to put away the Bonnies. The Bonnies finished the game 18-61 (29.5 percent) from the field and 5-29 (17.2 percent) from the beyond the arc.
Crowley said that his team was forcing shots instead of settling into them.
“We were hurrying our shots we had, and not shooting them with the rhythm that we are capable of, and we had some people settle for jump shots,” Crowley said. “At times defenses disrupt you, you feel the weight of the world on you and you try and make it back in one shot.”
Head Coach Jim Crowley said the team just did not have it today.
“That was a disappointing first half for us, but I thought we fought really hard in the second half, and we just couldn’t get over the hump,” Crowley said. “A ton of credit to VCU, I think people have overlooked what a great job Beth has done this year. They disrupt you, and they play hard”
Healy said she is pretty sure their season isn’t over, and they just have to get ready for what comes next.
“We are just looking forward, it’s a tough loss but there’s nothing we can do about it now, we still have a little bit of season to go, we are pretty sure of that,” Healy said. “We will come back, we will fix it and hopefully make a run.”
The Bonnies are 23-7 and are sitting on the bubble for teams that could either get into the NCAA Tournament or fall short of it. Here are some key wins the Bonnies have racked up this year; W/L Duquesne (26-4), W James Madison (23-5), W Georgetown (16-12), W George Washington (24-6).
The Bonnies will have to wait to see their fate of a post-season appearance for another two weeks. Selection Monday will be on March 14.
sawyerjp15@bonaventure.edu
