Jessica Jenkins, Chelsea Bowker and Mariah Ruff. Three names that St. Bonaventure women’s basketball fans are all too familiar with. Those three women were some of the most prolific shooters and gifted scorers to don the white and brown. They rank first, fourth and fifth respectively all-time in three-pointers in program history.
But there’s a new sharpshooter in town this year. She has made more three-pointers and has scored more points in her first five games this season than any of the three previously mentioned players did in their first five games. Meet Olivia Tucker, Bona fans.
The freshman guard from Newark, Delaware, made quite a name for herself at Sanford High School. She scored nearly 1,400 points en route to three Delaware All-State selections and four all-conference selections.
When it came time to choose where she would continue her basketball career, Tucker had plenty of schools knocking at her door. Aside from St. Bonaventure, she received offers from the likes of Canisius College, the University at Albany and Sacred Heart University. But once she stepped foot on the Bonaventure campus, she knew this where she belonged.
“I just felt like it was home,” said Tucker. “I knew right away that I was part of the Bona community. The coaches were so welcoming, the players were welcoming and I knew this was the place for me.”
Tucker first drew the eye of head coach Jesse Fleming when she was playing Amateur Athletic Union basketball for Books & Basketball Academy. She signed with St. Bonaventure in August of 2018.
During Tucker’s senior year at Sanford, her Warriors team defeated Caravel High School in the Delaware state championship game. Fleming was in attendance and watched the future Bonnie score 16 points in a 51-to-49 Sanford victory. After that game, Fleming realized Tucker had the makings of a star player.
“She played great. She could pull up, she defended the other team’s best player. She wasn’t scared,” said Fleming. “I walked out of that game knowing that we had a player. I just thought she was so ready to go.
The start to Olivia Tucker’s St. Bonaventure career was less than ideal. Through the first two games of the season, she shot 0-5 from the field, with four of those misses coming from beyond the arc.
On Nov. 10, in a Sunday afternoon game against The University of Akron, Bonaventure fans got their first glimpse of the Olivia Tucker that her head coach had been raving about. In just 16 minutes of action off the bench, she posted 11 points on 3-4 shooting from three-point territory.
Three days later, Tucker had a 20-point outing against Bucknell University. Behind six three-pointers, Tucker became the first Bonnies freshman to score 20 points in a single game since Ruff in 2015.
After back-to-back stellar performances, Tucker earned the right to be in the starting five in the Bonnies’ Nov. 17 game against Canisius. Although Tucker struggled, shooting 1-8 from three, she was excited to get her first career start.
“It was an awesome feeling,” said Tucker. “Just starting is always a great feeling…I love the game, so if I’m in the game, I’m going to love every minute of it.”
Despite the 1-4 start to the season for Fleming’s squad, Tucker’s performances these past two weeks has incited a lot of optimism among the Bonaventure faithful. Over her last three games, Tucker is shooting 42% from three-point territory and has lit a fire under the Bonnies’ offense. After collectively shooting 20% from deep as a team through their first two games of the season, the Bonnies are now operating at a 35% clip from beyond the arc, a mark good for fourth best in the Atlantic 10 conference.
But it’s not just Tucker’s performance during games that has inspired her teammates. It’s the work she puts in behind the scenes.
“She worked harder than anyone on the team,” said Dajah Logan, a senior guard, and the team’s top returning three-point threat from last year’s team. “She puts up shots even when people are asleep…she does every little thing she can, and I think from the beginning…she’s had that work ethic we need to be successful.”
Aside from the obvious threat that Tucker poses from deep, she is also known for being a pugnacious defender. She averaged over two steals per game in her high school career and has one pickpocket on the young season.
But neither of those attributes are what her head coach admires most about her. He echoes the words of the senior Logan.
“Olivia Tucker’s best friend is probably the gym,” said Fleming. “She just works…I bet you she takes over 15-hundred extra shots a week…she wants to have success; she wants to be a really good basketball player, and I think the rest of her teammates really respect that about her.”
Tucker still has a lot to prove. But if the first five games of her St. Bonaventure career are any indication of the production we’ll see from her over the next four years, she may just accomplish the goal she set out for when she came to this university.
“I want to set records,” said Tucker. “Maybe be the top three-point shooter in history.”
I’d say she’s off to a good start.
Tucker and company are back in action tomorrow afternoon. They’ll play host to Cleveland State University. The Vikings come in at 3-1 on the year and are riding a three-game win streak, including two road victories over Long Island University Brooklyn and Hofstra University. Opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside the Reilly Center.
By Tommy Valentine, Staff Writer
valenttr19@bonaventure.edu
