By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team will be looking to ride the momentum from its previous win over Cornell into its non-conference matchup against UAlbany on Dec. 14.
The Bonnies defeated the Big Red on Dec. 5 for its third win of the season — its first having come on opening night against Binghamton, and its second, a road victory over Canisius — and will look to string together wins for the first time this campaign as they head to New York State’s Capital Region to face the red-hot Great Danes.
The UAlbany offense, led by Kayla Cooper, has scored 70 or more points in five of its nine games this season, leading to what was a 7-0 start to its campaign. Meanwhile the Bonnies have only managed to break past that scoring threshold twice this year.
Cooper will be the focal point for UAlbany’s offense as she averages just shy of 19 points and nine rebounds per game all while shooting nearly 63% from the field in that time.
Kaci Donovan is the other member of the Great Danes that is averaging double figures in the scoring column this season at an even 13 per game while shooting just over 44% from the floor.
On the flip side, St. Bonaventure will look to Franklinville native Dani Haskell to run the offense.
Haskell is averaging just under 16 points per game this season on 50% from the field and 90% from the free throw line. She has four 20+ point games this season, one of which coming in the Bonnies’ most recent game against Cornell in which she dropped in 27 of her team’s 56 total points — two shy of her season-high of 29 which she recorded against Canisius.
Isabellah Middleton will be the other scoring threat for Bona as she enters the game averaging 10.1 points and a team-high 4.9 rebounds per game with a minimum of four games played. However, the recent and gradual inclusion of Caitlin Frost into the rotation has provided the Bonnies with another source of points and rebounding as she finished with 11 and six respectively against Cornell.
The Bonnies will look to get a big win in New York’s capital with only two more non-conference matchups left — after the UAlbany fixture — before Atlantic 10 play begins on Dec. 29 on the road at Loyola Chicago.
