By Michael Seitz, Contributing Writer
The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team split two contests on the road last weekend, beginning with a win at George Mason University on Friday by a score of 72-62. This was the team’s third straight victory and pushed their Atlantic 10 conference record to 4-8.
Tori Harris led the Bonnies to victory leading the team in scoring, rebounding and minutes played. Harris tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds in 31 minutes. Three other players, Asainae Johnson, Deja Francis and Emily Calabrese also scored in double figures. St. Bonaventure shot 46.6% from the field and 40.0% from three-point range in the Friday win. George Mason guard Daijah Jefferson led all scorers with 25 points in the losing effort.
Head coach Jesse Fleming spoke highly of his team’s performance on Friday.
“We made plays and that’s what we need to do,” he said. “We grinded defensively, took care of the ball and out-rebounded them.”
The team then traveled to George Washington University to take on the Colonials. The Bonnies did not enjoy the same success in D.C. that they did in Fairfax, Virginia. George Washington handed the Bonnies a 56-39 loss on Sunday afternoon.
The Bonnies only shot 29.8% from the field and had two scorers in double figures. Olivia Brown scored 13 points and I’yanna Lops scored 12 points in the losing effort. The Colonials had eight players score as the team shot 46.9% from the field in the win. Ali Brigham, the Colonial’s center, led all scorers with 15 points in the win.
“Mentally we were not there,” said Fleming on Sunday’s performance. “They [GW] play probably the slowest style in the whole league. We were just sloppy.”
Fleming praised the sophomore Oliva Brown’s shooting ability and effort level.
“She gets the minutes she does because of her ability and effort she puts in each game,” he said. The coach also praised transfer I’yanna Lops for her growth this season. “Her growth has been tremendous so far. We missed her when she wasn’t on the floor because of her ankle injury.”
The Bonnies now have a 4-9 record in the Atlantic 10 (5-11 overall) which puts the team in tenth place in the conference. The women only have four scheduled games remaining this season. They will host the third place Rhode Island Rams on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and Duquesne at 6 p.m. on Monday in the team’s final 2020-21 home game.
“We’re going to get after it tomorrow morning in practice,” Fleming said Tuesday. “I want to have three really good days going into Saturday’s game. This is a huge weekend for us.”
The Bonnies final two games will be at St. Joseph’s and at La Salle on Feb. 26 and Feb 28.
The lady Bonnies currently hold the final single-bye slot for the Atlantic 10 tournament. If the tournament started today, the Bonnies would travel to Amherst, Massachusetts to face seven-seeded UMass in a rematch of last year’s opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
seitzmr19@bonaventure.edu
