By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team had not seen consecutive wins since Dec. 12.
And the message from head coach Jim Crowley after a critical win over Davidson on Feb. 4, emphasized that.
The win over the Wildcats snapped a five-game losing streak, but not one that was all too damaging to the morale of the team as four of the five came via single digits. Against the ‘Cats, the Bonnies did what they had been unable to do over the losing streak: execute the game plan in the dying minutes.
They rallied defensively and with a late scoring run, got the better of a top-half team in the A10 standings.
Doing that once is great. But being able to replicate in order to start stacking wins is far more difficult. And Duquesne, a team Bona had already defeated once this season, ramped up the pressure in round two as it looked for revenge.
But thanks, greatly to some late-game heroics, the Bonnies pulled off a 72-71 victory in overtime.
It was a sloppy start from both sides as chaotic, fast-paced possessions led to a limited number of baskets. The former had the better luck earlier on, holding the latter to single digits in the first quarter of play, but as time wore on Duquesne found its stride and put an end to Bona’s early advantage.
For the remainder of time, it was a cat-and-mouse game. Duquesne was able to keep its nose in front, coming up with big, demoralizing responses to every scoring burst the hosts had that brought the scores closer.
But down by six with 3.5 minutes left, Bona launched one more attempt to salvage a result.
Now, it would be fair to assume that with the game on the line the ball would almost never be out of the hands of Laycee Drake or Aaliyah Parker. But instead it was Kylie Buckley that took matters into her own hands. She was the driving force behind a 13-7 run that was capped by a tough layup plus the foul shot with three seconds left that tied the game at 61-61 and needing an extra five minute period.
Buckley got her first start of the season for the Bonnies after typical starter Gabby Robinson picked up a lower leg injury late in the game against Davidson, and it is safe to say she made the most out of her minutes.
“What she’s done is really impressive,” Crowley said of Buckley. “She wasn’t playing as many minutes, but she kept working in practice and kept doing what we asked. A lot of people don’t do that, especially these days, and that earned her an opportunity. Then, when you get the opportunity, it’s up to you to not let it go. That’s her mission right now. … Her approach to things when things weren’t going the way she wanted, really was something that is so great for our program, for people to see, and it just speaks really highly to her character.”
The Bonnies had clawed their way back, but a five-point swing in overtime put them behind once again, this time with under 30 seconds remaining.
If late game execution was what Crowley wanted from his players, there was no greater litmus test.
Fortunately for him, they passed with flying colors.
“One thing they kept saying in the huddle was, ‘we’ve been here before,’” Crowley said. “They were echoing it with each other. I don’t think we have five games that haven’t been close, to be very honest. Almost every game we’ve played has been (decided by) like 12 or less. So, we have been there a lot. And what just happened, I’ve been at it long enough, doesn’t happen unless you have a group that really cares about one another. We got to keep using that to our advantage.”
St. Bonaventure’s Laycee Drake (24) launches a 3-pointer. Drake scored 13 points and sank the game-winner in overtime to give the Bonnies the win over Duquesne. (Spencer Bates)
Drake cut the deficit to just one point with a layup with 19 seconds left. Duquesne had possession but tight defense from Elyse MacDonough on an inbound pass forced a backcourt violation with almost no time coming off the clock.
And with 17 seconds left, Crowley went to a shot he’d seen made a million times this season.
Curling around a crucial screen from Mackenzie Pettinelli, Drake pulled up from mid-range and nailed the game winner.
The Reilly Center popped, overjoyed with what they had just seen their team accomplish. But the Bona faithful were not the only ones.
“I’m just really proud of the team effort,” Crowley said. “We had multiple people come up really big for us. You look at Mack Pettinelli (and while she) only had three points, she had six rebounds, three steals, and she set a great screen on the last play that freed things up. So, I’m just really pleased with the way our group all did what they needed to do to help the team be successful.”
Duquesne got a combined 52 points from Mackenzie Blackford (27 points, 7-for-14 from 3) and Alexis Bordas (25 points, five 3s, seven rebounds). So while Drake and Buckley will be remembered for their heroics, the Bonnies would not have been in a position to win the game if it were not for the depth they take great pride in.
Drake, Buckley and Parker finished with 13 points apiece. MacDonough scored nine points and Brianna Barr-Buday netted a team-high 15 points, most of which were recorded during a third quarter takeover in the paint.
“It won us the game,” Crowley said of his team’s depth. “You hope you have that in your program. We have three of our top seven out and we found a way to win. Anybody who has eyes can see (Duquesne’s) a pretty good basketball team, and we had to have people step up. Kylie, (Kaylee Krysztof) hit two monster 3s in the first half, (Olivia) DiFranco is doing a lot of things, Mack Pettinelli. So, we want players back and healthy, but I’m really proud of the way our group has stepped up.”
St. Bonaventure’s Aaliyah Parker (5) puts up a layup against Duquesne. Parker scored 13 points for the Bonnies in their win over the Dukes. (Spencer Bates)
The win over Duquesne marked the second game in a row for Bona in which it had at least six players score six points. Depth is not just an aspect of the team, it has become the identity.
For a good portion of the season Crowley had spoken about the need to have a third reliable scorer behind Drake and Parker. That player looked poised to be Ivona Djikanovic. But with her being sidelined due to injury and a string of recent complete-team efforts leading to positive results, Crowley now knows that is the way his team has to play.
“To be fair, (finding a third scorer) is not something we think about or talk about anymore,” Crowley said. “Now, it’s about can our third through 10th players be really, really good? I think over the last few games we’ve seen that. So, it might be 15 points from Bri Barr, it might be those two 3s that KK hits, it might be the defense that Liv DiFranco plays. We’re just trying to get as much as we can out of people, and they’re buying into that.”
St. Bonaventure’s unity and depth will be put to perhaps the ultimate test in its next game, a road affair at Richmond, which handed Bona an 80-60 defeat back on Jan. 3. That game is set for 6 p.m. on Feb. 11.
