By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team officially opened its Atlantic 10 home account for the season, but not with the kind of result it was hoping for.
The Bonnies suffered a heavy 82-48 defeat at the hands of a red-hot Rhode Island team, keeping them winless in the conference through its first two games. The Rams, powered by stars Harsimran Kaur and Sophie Phillips, entered the affair winners of their last two by a combined 60 points. Unfortunately for Bona, it was to be another excellent offensive night for Rhody.
Kaur led Rhode Island with a game-high 19 points and completed the double-double with 15 rebounds while shooting 56% from the field. Surrounding the 6-foot-4-inch center was a trio of guards that also found their way to double-figure points. Phillips scored 12 points in just 25 minutes on the court while Sophia Vital and Ayanna Franks scored 11 apiece with great shooting percentages as well — 50% from the floor for Vital and 57% from Franks.
“We knew, coming in, they were playing very well,” Bona coach Jim Crowley said. “They had a big win against St. Francis, they did a great job dominating St. Louis, and then they came in here and obviously dominated us.”
The Bonnies were put on the back foot almost immediately as the Rams opened the affair with a 12-2 run. But, a 7-4 run in response from the hosts “steadied the ship” according to Crowley. However, the waters did not remain calm for long as the offense ground to a halt in the second quarter. Making matters worse, the Rhody offense scored almost at will, winning the quarter by a 20-4 margin.
St. Bonaventure guard Nadechka Laccen (2) looks for the offense to set up while being guarded by two Rhode Island defenders. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
What killed the Bonnies’ offense, Crowley noted, was too much lateral movement. He pointed to the side-to-side ball movement from his team which slowed the offense and took away chances to attack the basket head-on. There were options in the post that were left unexploited and screens that failed to be set as well.
“Specifically in the second quarter there was a lot of catch-and-dribble, which is when our offense just dies,” Crowley said. “The ball wasn’t moving, and there wasn’t a lot of options for pace to get downhill. Everything was catch-and-dribble, which limits your options. … Good teams know when they got you on your heels. And they knew, and they just kept coming. … We got to get more post touches too. We get some decent stuff out of that. We’re just not getting enough and we’re certainly not getting enough screens either.”
In the second half, Bona was able to find somewhat of a stride on offense, scoring more points in the third quarter than it did throughout the entirety of the first half. However, a lack of defense meant that Rhode Island was able to keep its distance and cruise over the finish line.
“That start of the second quarter really just put us on our heels,” Crowley said. “Then, as we got the offense going a little bit in the second half, we lost our focus defensively, and just let them kind of keep getting the ball where they wanted. So, we end up with a, obviously, very disappointing defeat.”
In the lead-up to the fixture against the Rams, Crowley was wary of his team allowing “two seconds to turn into two minutes” — he did not want one bad possession to turn into a string of bad possessions.
However, in the second half, he saw moments when this occurred and noted how they are just not at the level they need to be at the moment, especially for the A10.
St. Bonaventure guard Dani Haskell (22) gets set for a mid-range jumper. (St. Bonaventure Athletics)
“I thought in the second half, when we’d score, we wouldn’t get back at the level we needed to,” Crowley said. “There was a lot of times we scored and gave up scores. I thought, in the second quarter specifically, we let offense really impact a lot of what we were doing. There’s a level at this league that you got to play at, and we’re not there, consistently, right now.”
Luckily there were some bright spots from Bona on the day. Zoe Shaw continued to show a great deal of improvement and, as a freshman, has handled her large number of minutes well according to Crowley. She finished with a team-high 17 points and was the only member of the Bonnies to record double-figures in the scoring column.
“She’s finding some consistency,” Crowley said of Shaw. “Honestly, she’s probably been our most consistent kid over the last month, month-and-a-half. So, that’s a positive thing. … Hopefully she continues to grow. I mean, these guys have to keep getting their opportunities. So it’s our job as coaches to get them better, to learn from this stuff, to prepare better, to understand what’s coming, how to handle it, and to improve from it.”
Bona’s next test will come in the form of George Mason, a team that was picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason poll and currently holds an 11-2 record. The Bonnies will hit the road for that game on Jan. 5 with tip-off set for 3 p.m.
