By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — On March 19, the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team won its first postseason game since the 2015-16 season, toppling 20-win Drexel in the first round of the WNIT.
In dramatic fashion, the Bonnies dug themselves out from a 10-point hole in the second half, forced an overtime period, and, with all momentum on their side, nailed the game-winner in front of what head coach Jim Crowley described as one of the loudest crowds he has seen at a women’s basketball game in some time.
Bona’s dynamic duo of Laycee Drake and Aaliyah Parker were well and truly in the spotlight. Drake scored a game-high 24 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Parker — despite going into the half scoreless — recorded a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and was responsible for the game-winning layup with under 10 seconds to go.
The scoring started off scarce for the Bonnies, with Drake doing most of the heavy lifting in the early goings herself. She scored all nine of Bona’s first-quarter points and her tally got up to 12 before one of her teammates chipped in.
But as the game progressed, those contributions would prove pivotal, specifically the ones from a pair of the team’s freshmen.
Elyse MacDonough contributed nine points to the cause, all from 3-point range, hitting two 3s in massive spots in overtime. Ivona Djikanovic, who spent most of the latter half of the regular season injured, popped up later in the game as well, providing an incredibly important eight points.
Development is something Crowley has spoken about in droves this season, oftentimes highlighting the exponential growth he has seen amongst his team’s youngest and least experienced.
But the postseason is an entirely different beast. There’s a palpable sense of desperation and intensity that comes with these games and, as Drake pointed out, the team used that as fuel to the fire.
“(We knew) it was obviously our last game if we lose,” Drake said after the Drexel win. “We just played with that in mind.”
Crowley even singled out freshman Iva Corluka for being ready when the moment came and making an impact in just her three minutes on the floor.
It’d be hard to draw up a more dramatic way for the program to secure its first postseason win in a decade. But, for as thrilling of a win as it was, Crowley, Drake and Parker will want to avoid having to mount any sort of herculean comeback effort as they lead the Bonnies into their second round game at Middle Tennessee State.
The Blue Raiders finished the regular season with a 16-14 record, going 11-7 in Conference USA (CUSA) play. They ultimately fell in their first game of the CUSA conference tournament to Missouri State.
MTSU is led in the scoring department by Alayna Contreras, who finished with the sixth-best points-per-game average in all of the CUSA with 14.5 points per game. But she is only the tip of the spear. Flanking her are the equally capable scorers of Blair Baugus and Macie Phifer.
Baugus averages 13.2 points per game, along with a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game. Phifer holds similar averages with 11.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
An aspect of Bona’s game against Drexel that could have been detrimental was that it entered that game after not having played for a full two weeks. So, the choppy start in the game could easily be attributed to Crowley’s squad getting back up to speed.
Against the Blue Raiders, that advantage is now in the Bonnies’ hands as they will have played just four days ago, compared to the 11 days it will have been since MTSU played, since it got a bye in the first round of the WNIT.
St. Bonaventure and Middle Tennessee State will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. in the Murphy Center with their seasons on the line. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
