By Sean Mickey
Staff Writer
The 2017-18 St. Bonaventure women’s basketball season has been anything but predictable with injuries to four of their 10 players and an ever-changing lineup.
After a positive 4-3 stretch going into mid-December, the Bonnies’ season appeared to be coming off the rails after injuries to key players, including junior guard Mckenna Maycock. Since then, the Bonnies have lost eight of 10 games.
The Bonnies, however, are not throwing in the towel but instead are embracing the challenge at hand and are taking the season game by game.
“A big goal is never talked about or anything like that because things can happen, and you need to take everything possession by possession really, and that’s always been our focus from day one,” said head coach Jesse Fleming. “Our expectations just come more game to game, we just want to play well in the next game we’re playing.”
Fleming believes his entire roster must be equally prepared to handle top competition, especially due to the recent injuries.
“[The underclassmen] have to learn how to prepare when facing top teams in the A-10,” said Fleming. “We’ve played Dayton already, we’ve played St. Louis, who are top teams as well. We’ve learned that if you’re not locked into the scout and you make personal mistakes and closeout mistakes or just philosophy mistakes during the course of a game, the great teams will punish you.”
With the Atlantic 10 season only halfway over, there’s still plenty of room for movement in the standings.
“It’s been a great learning experience, and we’ll keep prepping the same way from when they’re freshman until the time they’re seniors,” said Fleming. “We’ve had games this year where we’ve played well, and we’ve lost. We moved the ball, we attacked, but sometimes you miss shots. We just think that if we focus on playing well game by game, possession by possession, that the rest will take care of itself. It’s a cliché with a lot of coaches, but it’s a real thing, the process of it.”
Mariah Ruff, the Bonnies lone senior, has taken charge of the young squad. The backbone of the Bonnies and team captain, Ruff agrees with her coach that the results will come with time.
“We have really good team chemistry currently, so I think we just need to keep playing hard, focusing mentally, and as kids come back off injuries, we need to make sure they’re on the same page as us,” said Ruff. “I think we just need to stay focused and all the girls know that, they all know going into a game what we need to do and make sure we follow scout and do all the little things right.”
As the Atlantic 10 tournament approaches, Ruff is not looking forward to the end of her St. Bonaventure career.
“I just want to go through and enjoy every day and not take anything for granted,” said Ruff. “You don’t realize when you’re a freshman how few games you have. Now as I only have eight games left, it’s kind of hitting me that I really need to enjoy every single moment.”
mickeys17@bonaventure.edu
