By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The Richmond women’s basketball team entered the 2025-26 season ranked No. 24 in the nation.
They were named the Atlantic 10 preseason favorites. They are led by potential All-American Maggie Doogan and behind her is a cast of more-than-capable scorers. They can hurt teams from range. They can hurt teams in the paint. And if they find a groove, they put teams in a blender and leave them in the dust.
The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team kept pace with the Spiders through two quarters, despite admittedly not playing up to its full potential. But on the other side of the intermission, it was the conference favorites that imposed their will as they handed Bona an 80-60 loss, its widest margin of defeat this season.
The Bonnies, who had shot 44.8% from the field in the first half, saw a severe drop off in production as they scored just nine points on 28.6% shooting. Meanwhile, the Spiders shot ahead, scoring 22 points on 53.3% shooting.
“We were doing a lot of switching and once they (figured it out) in the first quarter with (Sam Dewey) where we switched, she cut to the ball, we were late, and she was able to get a layup, they got it four times in the third quarter,” Bona head coach Jim Crowley said. “We had switched, we had smaller guards on bigger people, which we knew would happen, but we didn’t get to the ball enough, so they were able to get really low. … That’s what good teams do. If you’re gonna do something, they’re gonna find a way to take advantage of it. And they did, and credit to them on that.”
Ahead of the affair, Crowley pointed towards one aspect of Richmond’s game that could make the biggest difference: the 3-point arc. He remembered when, in last season’s meeting, the trio of Doogan, Ally Sweeney and Rachel Ullstrom shot a combined 16-of-19 from deep.
Well, all three of those players returned to the Spiders and, once again, led an all-out barrage from 3.
Richmond shot over 43% from range and over 50% from the field overall as a team. Five different players drained at least two 3-point attempts and just three of the 10 players that attempted a deep ball failed to see one fall.
But according to Crowley, what made those 3-pointers all the more impactful was that his team’s offense was unable to make those shots mean more.
“They had some folks who haven’t been shooting it really well shoot it pretty well,” Crowley said. “You pick your poison and some of those were decisions we made as a coaching staff and again, credit to Richmond. They shared the ball, those guys made the shots, we switched to get to it and they took advantage inside. … If you react, if you’re late, they knock it down. Our offense wasn’t putting enough pressure on them to make those shots even more important.”
St. Bonaventure’s Aaliyah Parker (5) looks to put up a jumper against Richmond. Parker scored a game-high 18 points in the Bonnies’ loss to the Spiders. (Spencer Bates)
Offensively, the Bonnies have got consistent scoring out of their star duo of Aaliyah Parker and Laycee Drake, who netted 18 and 16 points, respectively, over Richmond. But outside of those two, scoring becomes more of a game-by-game question.
Against George Washington last time out, the team’s defense made up for the lack of a third scorer. But against a team like Richmond, a third option on attack is something Crowley and his staff remain in search of.
“If you’re only giving up 53 you probably don’t need (a third reliable scorer), if you’re giving up 80, you need somebody else to put it in the hoop,” Crowley said. “I thought we realistically should have kept them in the upper 60s, 70s. We’re getting to 60, we’ve got to find some people that can help push us into the upper 60s. Then, I think our defense really gives us a good chance consistently.”
The size of the Spiders also posed a problem. Doogan, who scored a game-high 18 points, Ullstrom and Dewey along with Tierra Simon and Rayne Wright consistently found themselves with size advantages over their Bona defenders. And as much as the hosts tried to make their opponents earn their baskets, there were a number of times when size was the deciding factor in whether a shot went in or not.
“I think a lot of it was they were able to score over us,” Crowley said. “I don’t know if we had many of those, if any of those kinds of scores. They probably had six or eight baskets over us inside, maybe more with Doogan, probably closer to 10. That’s them getting much easier ones (than us). Then, you add that they shoot the ball really well, and it becomes a challenging defensive opportunity for us.”
If there was one positive Crowley was able to take away from this game it was that he got a late response. As the Spiders threatened to run up the score, his players shook off their poor third quarter and executed their game plan drastically better, shooting a game-best 57.1% as a team in the fourth quarter.
“We had talked to them and we said, ‘we’re not playing the way we play. The score is what it is. We have a way we play.’ I thought we did that much more (in the fourth). I thought we looked how we want to look. I still think we can be more aggressive, consistently, offensively. We can play through the paint more. Those are things we’ll continue to get better at.”
After its first true lopsided loss of the season, Crowley will be in search of a response as his team gets set for a two-game A10 road trip.
St. Bonaventure will suit up next on Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at Duquesne.
