BY NATHAN SOLOMON, SPORTS ASSIGNMENT EDITOR.
The St. Bonaventure Women’s Basketball team (3-10, 2-8 A10) held the Davidson Wildcats (6-8, 3-4 A10) to just 40% shooting and four three-pointers, snapping a four-game skid with a 71-58 victory.
“We had a lot of energy, I thought we played smart, and there was a good competitive level,” said St. Bonaventure head coach Jesse Fleming. “Everyone who came in gave us positive things, and I’m happy for our kids to get a win today.”
After falling behind 10-7 early, the Bonnies went on a 20-0 run over nearly ten minutes and held a 27-10 lead with five and a half minutes to go in the second quarter.
“They [Davidson] were stuck on ten for a while. For the most part, we were contesting their threes, we weren’t letting them get downhill, [and] we were being smart with our help,” said Fleming. “Davidson lives on transition, and when you can make shots on them, they can’t really get going.”
After going scoreless for nearly ten minutes, the Wildcats hit five straight shots to cut the lead down to eight, trailing 34-26 at the half. Davidson came within five points of the Bonnies mid-way through the third quarter, but St. Bonaventure never surrendered the lead in the second half and held on for victory.
“We made some threes with Tori [Harris], Maddie [Dziezgowski], and [Olivia Brown], and Deja [Francis] and Asianae [Johnson] got into the paint and set some people up,” said Fleming. “This was kind of the box score I envisioned.”
The box score he envisioned ended up being an 18-point outing from Asianae Johnson on efficient 8-of-11 shooting, also adding six rebounds. Tori Harris added 13 points and six rebounds, while I’yanna Lops added nine points. Olivia Brown and Deja Francis chipped in with eight points each.
Despite the 13-point victory, the Bonnies were once again outrebounded, this time by 12.
“They got us again,” said Fleming. “We’ve got to find a way to rebound the basketball better. We need more rebounds from our fives, and we need more rebounds from our fours.”
Leading the Wildcats in both points and rebounds was Chloe Welch with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Suzi-Rose Deegan and Katie Turner added ten points apiece for Davidson.
Coming off a win, the Bonnies won’t have to wait long to try and get another. St. Bonaventure and Davidson are set for a re-match on Monday (2/8) in the Reilly Center.
“We dodged some bullets [on Sunday],” said Fleming. “I don’t think Davidson’s going to go 4-for-22 two days in a row….and we got to make sure we keep them off the free-throw line.”
Game time is set for 6 pm ET on ESPN+. While the Bonnies look to make it two wins in a row, the Wildcats look for their first win since January 3.
