By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — Sometimes you only need to lead for three seconds to win.
This is exactly what the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team managed to do as it stormed back from a 14-point second half deficit to claim a dramatic 68-66 win over Saint Louis — its first in Atlantic 10 play this season.
“It was just good to see the fight,” Bona coach Jim Crowley said. “That’s been our consistent message: we got to keep fighting. I was proud of our group that we did.”
The Billikens, who saw the double-figure advantage they held for a good portion of the game disappear by the end of the third quarter, were only up by six entering the final frame. But, no stoppage in play managed to extinguish the fire roaring within the Bonnies as they turned the tides of fortune in their favor and capped off the game with a 19-6 run.
Within that late scoring run was a number of crucial 3-pointers from Dani Haskell and Zoe Shaw which were pivotal in the dying moments. At halftime, when Bona trailed by a score of 39-29, Haskell had not seen a 3-pointer fall. In the last 3.5 minutes, she hit two while Shaw drained one — which tied the game at 66 apiece.
St. Bonaventure guard Zoe Shaw (32) looks for a pass on the wing. (Spencer Bates)
But, luckily for the Bonnies, their big late-game plays were not limited to the offensive end of the floor. On a night in which they had struggled to successfully rebound the basketball — losing the battle on the boards 50-32 overall — Haskell got a piece of an SLU layup that rolled off the rim with Caitlin Frost reeling in the board.
The icing on the cake for the hosts was Haskell’s driving layup attempt out of a Bona timeout that drew a foul from the Billikens. And in the biggest moment of her team’s conference season thus far, Haskell got both shots to fall.
SLU was unable to come up with the answer on the other end and thanks to that fight that Crowley has been so desperate to see from his players, Bona put another tally in the win column.
“I thought we were getting really good threes,” Crowley said. “To be honest, the last one we made was the most contested one we probably took. But thankfully, it went in and we executed at the end very well to get the free throw. We had a number of stops as the fourth quarter progressed. I’m just proud of our group.”
“The story is, get physical with us, and they did, and we corrected. We waited a little longer than I would like to correct. But, I was proud that we did. We picked up our pace and were able to move the ball. We’re fortunate to come out on top.”
According to Crowley the biggest thing that changed for his side between the halves was its commitment near the rim. On defense, they drew fouls on box-outs, and on offense, got downhill.
“We took away the rim … and then offensively, we were attacking the rim,” Crowley said. “We still could have made some better decisions in the paint, but we were attacking the rim. That’s why we got to the foul line. … I think that gave us real confidence in that fourth quarter.”
St. Bonaventure guard Dani Haskell (22) gets set on defense. (Spencer Bates)
A major player in that shift was Frost, who finished with 19 points, two shy of the game-high of 21 scored by Haskell. Frost did, however, record the team-high in rebounds with nine and also finished with a field goal percentage of 50% or higher for the second consecutive game.
“I thought she corrected really well,” Crowley said. “She was taking everything out to the side. In the second half, she really took it to the defense and converted there. She got herself a couple 3-point play opportunities and got some rebounds down there. Zoe and Caitlin are getting more and more reps, so their consistency is coming.”
Haskell was another Bona player that came alive in the second half with just six of her 21 points having been scored over the first two quarters. But her scoring is not where her value ends with this Bona team, Crowley acknowledged.
“The lessons she’s teaching our kids are going to last a long time in our program and this was one of them,” Crowley said. “She kept going and I’m really proud of her defense. (Kennedy Calhoun) got that layup, and then (Haskell) got back-to-back stops and took a charge. Those are the lessons that the kids are seeing. Not getting frustrated about a few misses and still doing other things.”
A win after any four-game losing streak is big, but a comeback win in such dramatic fashion, Crowley knows has the ability to inject a lot of life into his team, so long as his players keep working.
“For us, we got an extra day to enjoy it because we’re off tomorrow, but we got to get to work Friday, and that’s got to be our mentality,” Crowley said. “The only way we can keep good things going is by working and executing.”
St. Bonaventure’s Dani Haskell (22), Zoe Shaw (32), Mackenzie Pettinelli (1), Tamar voor de Poort (20) and Caitlin Frost (21) run to celebrate with their team after completing the comeback over Saint Louis. (Spencer Bates)
Next up for the Bonnies is a home game against UMass that will tip-off at 1 p.m. on Jan. 12.
