By Mikael DeSanto
Sports Editor
The St. Bonaventure University women’s basketball team took a 57-45 loss to the La Salle Explorers tonight, a matchup that also served as this season’s Pink Game.
The game was marked by offensive struggles for both the Bonnies (9-15, 4-8 A10) and the Explorers (15-9, 8-4 A10), including a second quarter which saw a combined nine points (five for the Bonnies and four for the Explorers) scored. This led to junior guard Mariah Ruff leading the Bonnies in points at the half with five, while junior guard/forward Amy Griffin led the Explorers with 10 points.
“I was just disappointed an embarrassed by that effort today. I didn’t expect it, I thought we had a good couple of days and we had looked really good in practice,” Bonnies head coach Jesse Fleming said. “I don’t know what happened and that’s on me. I didn’t think we defended that well, even that second quarter when they had one basket; I thought they just missed their looks. I just didn’t think we were locked in either way.”
The Bonnies lost the rebounding battle to the Explorers, who used their height advantage to control the glass. The Explorers finished with 40 rebounds to the Bonnies’ 32.
“That’s what we said coming into the game, that we had to use our size,” Explorers head coach Jeff Williams said. “We didn’t score the ball well inside, but we still had a presence defensively. We interrupted some of [the] Bonnies’ shots.”
The Explorers advantage in size also allowed them to reject eight of the Bonnies shots, which Fleming believed affected his players shooting mentality.
“We missed so much at the basket and [in] the second half when we’re attacking, I think we were seeing ghosts a little bit and think that there’s going to be a shot blocker there,” Fleming said. “I’m thinking they think their shot is going to be blocked every time they went in there.”
The Explorers also beat the Bonnies in bench points, 20-6.
The turning point in the game came early in the third quarter. Following a 6-0 run by the Bonnies to take a 25-20 lead, the Explorers went on a 9-0 run to reclaim the lead, 29-25. Though the Bonnies continued to push into the lead at times coming within one possession a few times, they would never reclaim the lead.
Each Bonnies basket was matched by the Explorers offense throughout the fourth quarter, as the Explorers out-scored the Bonnies 19-15 in the quarter to help them secure the victory and take over sole possession of fifth place in the Atlantic 10.
Ruff finished the game with 18 points and five rebounds to lead the Bonnies. Freshman Jalisha Terry contributed eight points and graduate forward Gabby Richmond added seven points, while junior forward Matea Britvar grabbed seven rebounds for the Bonnies.
“[Ruff] played hard and everything, but I didn’t think she played that well. I think she would tell you the same thing,” Fleming said. “She made her first three, missed her next six; she could play better. Her teammates have to screen for her better and I think she was another kid that the shot blocking affected her. But I do give her a ton of credit for constantly attacking.”
The Explorers top scorers were Griffin, the Atlantic 10’s leading scorer, with 18 and 11 rebounds for a double-double, senior forward Micahya Owens with 13 points and sophomore guard Adreana Miller with 12 points. Owens performance moved her into eighth place on the team’s all-time scoring list.
“Micahya has been huge for us the last three or four games,” Williams said. “She struggled early. She was a starter for three years, we thought it would be better for her to come off the bench and she’s accepted the role. She made shots, got to the free throw line and she defended. So she is starting to play her best basketball at the time we most need her.”
The Bonnies next play Saturday at home against the Saint Louis Billikens. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
