By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team got its 2025-26 season underway with a pummeling of Div. II Mansfield.
The Bonnies rolled over the Mountaineers with an 82-34 victory in its season and home-opener on Nov. 3, and got contributions from all over the place. Every single member of head coach Jim Crowley’s roster got time on the floor and recorded at least two points. Valuable experience that will only come in handy when the tougher fixtures come.
“We’ve been really fortunate that a lot of people have got a lot of practice reps, and to be able to carry that over in live play was really good to see,” Crowley said. “You hope that you can have that kind of success, and you can get people in and get them a chance to not just get their feet wet, but also to get some film in the inventory so we can review and learn and get better.”
However, 82 points and a 48-point margin of victory is a hard benchmark to recreate on a game-by-game basis, especially with some of the non-conference tests the team has coming up. The most pressing challenge being its first away trip of the season to face Niagara.
“(Niagara) plays really hard, and they guard you almost from the minute you walk into the Gallagher Center to the minute you walk out,” Crowley said. “That’s a unique experience. They come at you in waves. They come at you in different ways. They come out with different style players. So in that aspect, it’s a different experience. You can get your first game under your belt, but it’s a different game when you’re playing a Little Three rival on their floor. So I’m curious to see how our kids handle that.”
Jordyn Williams, Jade Rutledge, Talia Dial and Caliana Fenceroy are four Niagara players that scored over six points in last season’s matchup with Bona and are players that Crowley said his team will need to pay extra attention to in the fixture.
The key, Crowley pointed out, to having offensive success against the Purple Eagles, is ball movement — one of the biggest aspects he stressed with last year’s team. He does not want to see his players waste valuable opportunities to cut through the staunch defense of Niagara in exchange for pointless dribbles.
“It’s going to be very different on Friday and certainly in other games with some of the competition we have,” Crowley said. “But the one thing that we’ve really tried to stress is that we pass more than dribble, that we move the ball more. … Our pace should be much faster, because the ball moves faster in the air than it does hitting the ground. Hopefully that gets us more possessions, which gives us more opportunities to be successful.”
What he has also stressed to his players in the build up to the affair is being ready to go from the jump. The Bonnies started slow against Daemen University in their final scrimmage, which led to the need for a second-half comeback. Mansfield gave them a scare with quick, early points as well. And while it was good to see the resilience needed to win those games, Crowley knows those are just Div. II teams, and that there may not be a chance to stage big comebacks against Div. I opponents.
“Niagara attacks, they got a couple new guards that just go really hard to the basket,” Crowley said. “If we’re not engaged early, if we’re not in the right positions, on and off the ball, they’re getting scores, they’re getting fouls.”
The Niagara trip will be a homecoming of sorts for Bona guard Aaliyah Parker, who transferred in from the Purple Eagles over the offseason. Set to be a pivotal piece of the team this season, Crowley, and the rest of Parker’s teammates, are going to need her to be at her best. Which is why the team is prepared to do anything they can to help keep her emotions in check and not let the atmosphere get to her.
“I just want to see Aaliyah be Aaliyah,” Crowley said. “She had such a great career (at Niagara), also being home, there’ll be family and friends there. So, our job is to keep her calm, to get her in good spots. And hopefully, once the ball goes up and the first play happens, it just gets back to the game.”
Ultimately, the fixture is going to come down to three categories: free throws, offensive rebounds and turnovers. Crowley noted that if his team can win at least two of those battles, they will have a good chance at winning the war.
“If you’re losing the free throw battle, the offensive rebound battle and the turnover battle, you’re in trouble,” Crowley said. “Last year, we lost one of (those categories) badly, but the other two, we were pretty good at. If you lose two of those three, you better shoot the ball really, really well.”
St. Bonaventure will tip-off against Niagara on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.
