By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — St. Bonaventure women’s basketball head coach Jim Crowley had been in search of a complete defensive performance after weeks of narrow results.
Against George Washington on Dec. 31, he got just that.
His players did not allow mistakes to compound upon themselves and remained sound defensively, even as the game crept ever closer to being decided by one possession. Their reward for such a display: a clutch game-winner from Mackenzie Pettinelli as the Bonnies pulled out a thrilling 54-53 victory — their first in Atlantic 10 conference play this season.
Aside from Pettinelli’s big time bucket, Laycee Drake stole the show with a 21-point, six-rebound, three-steal stat line. Aaliyah Parker was the only Bona player to hit double figures, netting 12 points and four rebounds.
But where there was a lack of a third big contributor on the offensive end, a number of Bona players made their impact known by disrupting George Washington’s offense. Now those minutes may not always yield high numbers on the box score, but according to Crowley he and his staff have been keeping his players motivated by acknowledging their growth outside the score sheet.
“We talk about it all the time, we’re not chasing perfection, we’re chasing consistency,” Crowley said. “The more times you do things the right way, the better we’re going to be. I thought that GW was as good a game as we’ve had with that. Even if people had something they didn’t do correctly, they quickly fixed it. That’s been an issue for us, the multiple mistakes. We continue to work on it and focus on it, and you need pretty special kids to believe in that. You need people that really are team-based and have a lot of character. Our group has shown that in a great way.”
One of those players whose growth stands out is Pettinelli. In her second year with the Bonnies it is clear that she has found a sense of comfort within the system. Where last year she had her struggles with turnovers, since the team’s game against Radford on Nov. 28, she has a 15-4 assists-to-turnover ratio. She is a constant starter and while it may not be her scoring, her leadership makes it almost impossible to take her off the floor.
“She knows who she is and because she’s been around, she knows who she is within what we do,” Crowley said. “She’s able to get to those spots, and she’s gotten really comfortable with her teammates, and she knows how to get her teammates to their spots. There’s a big scoring game coming from her, it’s just a matter of time. … She knows this level. She played a lot of A10 minutes last year. So nothing’s really new to her anymore, and she just continues to grow in comfort in what she can do within who we are.”
Experience is set to come into focus in a big way in Bona’s next game as it is set to face A10 preseason favorites Richmond at home.
Where the Bonnies have just two players back from last year’s team, they will face off against a veteran-laden Spiders squad that started the season ranked No. 24 in the nation.
Headlining the Richmond team is reigning A10 Player of the Year Maggie Doogan, who is on pace to average her best statistical season to date. She leads the charge with 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. Alongside her, Rachel Ullstrom and Ally Sweeney average 13.7 and 9.9 points per game, respectively and, like Doogan, have spent their entire collegiate careers at Richmond.
“They’re tough to prepare for with any amount of time,” Crowley joked. “They play at a really high pace. They have, obviously, multiple good offensive players, but they play a motion in which they have three people that have played a lot together in it, which is really hard to guard. … We’ve talked a lot about how their early offense, and the early rebounding in that offense, is really dangerous. Last year they just blitzed us. And the three top kids from when we played them (last year, returned). Doogan, Sweeney and Ullstrom were 16-of-19 last year against us from 3. I mean, 16-of-19 is tough to do with no defense. … We’ve got to be ready to team-defend some really good individual players.”
Doogan poses a significant problem for the Bonnies. She controls the offense, reads defenses expertly and can score at any level with extreme efficiency, as she shoots over 50% from the field.
However, Crowley knows that they can’t just send every defender her way as others are more than capable of picking up and carrying the baton.
“Her numbers are All-American level,” Crowley said. “She is their Josh Allen. She does everything for them. Not only is she scoring 23, 24 points per game, she’s (averages) five assists. The ball goes through her all the time. Their motion is basically, ‘what does Maggie do?’ and ‘how does Maggie read it?’ … So, I don’t know if anyone’s really stopping her or slowing her down. You just can’t pay so much attention to her that other people have really big days. We certainly have got to make sure she sees bodies. We’ve got to match her pace and be really disciplined on her, and not give her free throws and layups. But also really we have to be mentally tough, because she makes really tough shots. And if you’re still worried about those (after she makes them), then she’s going to get an easy shot.”
One such player that Crowley pointed towards as possibly being the key to the entire game was Ullstrom. A player that lives beyond the 3-point arc, she has the ability to be a catalyst with timely, spirit-breaking big 3-pointers and offensive boards.
“Ullstrom and Doogan and (Alicia Newell) all have the same amount of offensive rebounds and I would bet 70% of Ullstrom’s offensive rebounds are off Doogan misses and I would say probably the same on the other side,” Crowley said. “They just know when and where they need to be. … But I think Ullstrom’s a really big key. When she’s rolling from 3, when she gets going, it gets their team really going. She’s a great offensive rebounder as well, I think she had five offensive rebounds in the first quarter against Penn State. They’re coming off a loss, so I think Doogan is going to be really aggressive early, but Ullstrom, I think, is really someone who they’re going to look to get going early on us.”
Coming off what Crowley believed to be his team’s best defensive effort of the season, he will be looking for his team to give him another one of at least the same level with the Spiders in town.
St. Bonaventure will tip-off against Richmond at 3 p.m. on Jan. 3 in the Reilly Center.
