By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team hits the road for the final time during the regular season to face George Washington.
This will be the second meeting between the sides this season, but it is nearly impossible for the games to be played any further apart in the Atlantic 10 schedule. Aside from the game against Saint Louis, which occurred in the middle of non-conference play, Bona kicked off its strictly A10 schedule against GW back on Dec. 31. Now, the sides face off in what will be the penultimate game of the regular season for each.
The first meeting between the sides went the way of the Bonnies, albeit by the narrowest of margins. Entering the fourth quarter, Bona and George Washington were level at 44-44, and with just over 2.5 minutes left, the latter found itself up by five. But over those final minutes, the Bona defense came up big, not allowing a single point against it from then on. And, ever so gradually, the offense shaved away at its deficit until Mackenzie Pettinelli ultimately nailed the game-winning jumper with two seconds on the clock.
Bona took a 54-53 victory then, but nearly two months later, both sit with 6-10 records in conference play and aspirations of a bye on the first day of the A10 tournament.
Entering the affair, Bona has won three of its last five games. Of the two they have lost, one was a lopsided defeat at the hands of Richmond, the other was a narrow defeat to Loyola Chicago in its most recent game.
As for the Revolutionaries, they are 1-4 in their last five games, but that one win stands out amongst the losses as they defeated Richmond, the team that handed Bona its two of its three largest losses of the season, 57-54 in overtime.
GW is led by the likes of Gabby Reynolds, who has hit double figures in the score column in each of her last nine games, including a 22-point outing in the win over Richmond. Reynolds scored 16 points and had five rebounds in game one against Bona. Alongside her is Sara Lewis, who averages 10.6 points and leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game.
George Washington currently ranks second in 3-point defense of all A10 teams, holding opponents to an average of 27% from range.
Bona was without its second-leading scorer, Aaliyah Parker, against Loyola Chicago. The team will hope to have her back as she was only a late scratch against the Ramblers.
Parker scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in the first game of the season against the Revs. Meanwhile, the team’s leading scorer, Laycee Drake, will look to have an equally productive outing as the last time she saw GW, as she recorded a game-high 21 points, six rebounds and three steals.
St. Bonaventure will tip-off against George Washington in the Charles E. Smith Center on Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.
