By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The 2025-26 season for the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team is on the near horizon.
But before it gets the season officially underway, it is set to host Daemen University in an exhibition game open to the public on Oct. 29.
Head coach Jim Crowley and his staff had a lot of work to do in the offseason, replacing all but a few players from the roster last season. They emphasized bringing in impactful, local talent from Western New York, experienced players that understand in-game situations and solid defenders as they look to improve in the areas they lacked last year.
Picking out three players from the bunch, Crowley highlighted Aaliyah Parker, Laycee Drake and Gabby Robinson as players he has been impressed by throughout preseason practices.
“This is going to sound like coach speak, but really, all of (our players) have had very good moments here in the preseason, and will all have a chance to help us if they all stay healthy,” Crowley said. “Aaliyah Parker has had a great career, and now she is able to play at a different place coming back from injury. Laycee Drake is someone that was on her way to having a great career when an injury derailed her and things didn’t go the way she had hoped at her last school. Then Gabby, coming back for her second year, she’s improved. So, I’m excited to see them all, but certainly those three older folks who’ve got different experiences and what they give to us and how they bring along the younger people.”
Robinson, along with fellow returner Mackenzie Pettinelli, are two that Crowley is looking towards to embrace significant leadership positions this year. While there is a lot of experience in his Bona lineup, those are two that can be pivotal in translating the system to the new players on the team.
“The things they saw go astray, … they want to make sure aren’t occurring,” Crowley said. “They want to make sure that their teammates don’t get entitled, and that we don’t go off on things that really aren’t that important, and that they stay bought in. That’s a phrase we’ve used a lot, and we feel like we brought in kids who lean more that way, and so far we’ve seen it. Both Gabby and Mack have really been leaders in very different ways, but both very positive ways. But you can have the best leaders in the world, if you don’t have a group that’s willing to follow, leadership goes astray. And we’ve had people respond to leadership well. … It’s a little easier to do when wins and losses haven’t happened. So the real test of that will be over the next month.”
In terms of defense, Crowley noted he is hoping to be able to get back to the physical style of basketball he likes to play after not being able to for the past two years. Players like Parker, Robinson, Brianna Barr-Buday, Iva Corluka, Kylie Buckley and Mya Davidson all bring up the average height and strength of this Bona team and are set to be big paint presences. This opens up a lot of opportunities for Crowley who wants his defense to be versatile.
“(Defense) is always an area that can improve, but two things that are very clear is we can be more physical, and Aaliyah just changes things defensively. While we’re not going to play the way Niagara did, per se, her defensive ability just gets everyone going. Her versatility, her physicality, her instincts bring out the best in everyone else. … There’s a lot of technical things we have to get better at, but having a really impactful individual defender and having a lot more physicality, are things that allow us to do some different things.”
The Bonnies had one scrimmage already in the preseason, but the one against Daemen will be the first time fans will be able to see the team in action. Crowley is excited for the opportunity as this will give the players their first experiences in front of a Reilly Center crowd, but also because it will give him a glimpse of how his players operate on the floor against a real opponent and not just in practice.
“It’s good to get some other competition … and once you dabble in competition, it’s tough to get the players out of that mindset,” Crowley said. “We’re ready for that. I really just want to see how we handle things against different folks. … Daemen has a lot of kids that have played a lot of winning basketball together, so their confidence level and their ability to adjust on the fly and how much they’ve worked off each other, will be really good for us to have to handle having a lot of new people.”
St. Bonaventure will officially tip-off against Daemen University at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 29.
