By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — Ahead of his team’s most recent game against Canisius, St. Bonaventure women’s basketball coach Jim Crowley made it a point to say how it would be similar to their exhibition game against Daemen University.
He could not have hit the nail more on the head.
Against the Wildcats, the Bonnies were down double figures at halftime and it took a resounding late effort to stave off a loss. It was a game that the Bona roster was able to take a lot of confidence away from. It was their first time playing as a unit in front of fans and they were able to band together to pull out the result.
But that was a Div. II opponent. Which, Crowley knew, disregarded the resilience his team displayed in many people’s eyes. But his team proved those doubts wrong against the Golden Griffins.
Bona was, once again, able to shake off a slower start to the game, and did just enough to seal the win — capping it with an all-important steal from Laycee Drake.
For those who disregarded the fortitude of the Bonnies after their win over Daemen, those doubts can now be cast aside as they showed they could do the same against a Div. I opponent.
All that being said, playing from behind is not something Crowley necessarily wants to be doing. Bona has now had notable slow starts in each of its last two games, including a single-digit frame against Binghamton. But for as much as his team struggled in those opening minutes, he credited his opposition for how they shot out of the gates.
He also admitted that what has bothered him more than the slow starts was the slow start to the second half his team had against Canisius.
“I want to give credit to both (Binghamton and Canisius),” Crowley said. “Certainly we could have started better, but … both teams came out really ready. That’s a good learning point there. … What really bothered me was the start of the third quarter against Canisius. That’s a maturity thing. We got to be ready there. We got to be locked in. … At the start of the games, we want to be better, but there’s a lot of game left, a lot of time to recover from that. At the start of the second half, you’re running out of time.”
It was not just the team’s ability to succeed with their backs against the wall that stood out to Crowley though. It was their ability to rely on one another to get the job done.
Drake’s game-sealing steal would not have been possible without excellent defensive pressure applied by Mallory Heise. Kylie Buckley’s physicality saw her make a drastic impact down the stretch as well.
There is still plenty to clean up, but being able to have that level of confidence late in a game is a tool that Crowley is happy is in his team’s belt.
“Their ability to lean on each other and trust each other in those big moments is something that will serve us well,” Crowley said. “Being a coach on the other side of it, we gave away execution scores. They took advantage of mistakes, whether we reacted or didn’t have our ball screen coverage tight and that’s a dangerous way to live. So, from that aspect, that’s got to improve.”
Another positive sign for the Bonnies is that they may now be getting the full potential of Aaliyah Parker. The Niagara transfer finished with a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double against the Golden Griffins after having some quieter performances in her first few games with the team. But Crowley isn’t losing sleep over the times in which she isn’t stuffing the stat sheet. He knows Parker will come into her own at her own pace, especially after the season-ending injury she suffered last season.
“We’re realistic and patient,” Crowley said. “She hasn’t played in a long time, she hasn’t played extended minutes in a very long time, or with a lot of contact in a really long time. So to just expect ‘this is how it’s going to be,’ that’s not fair to her. You’ll add pressure to her, and then it takes longer. Offensively she showed comfort for the first time in a while, and hopefully we can keep that and then continue to grow what she can do defensively for us.”
Bona will hope Parker’s good form carries over into its upcoming game against Buffalo — a team which won the WNIT title last season.
The last Big 4 rival the Bonnies have yet to play this season, the Bulls won handedly in the matchup last season. And while much of their roster has changed over the offseason, there are still some familiar faces. But what’s all the more important according to Crowley is that Buffalo still has the mindset of a winner.
“They very much still have a winning mentality,” Crowley said. “They’re very hard-nosed, they work for everything. They go hard to the boards. They come hard off ball screens. They go in transition. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on you, different pressure than we’ve seen so far (this season). They’re gonna attack the boards, they’re going to attack the rim, so we can’t be late, we can’t be a step slow.”
The big danger on the Bulls roster this season is a returner from last year’s squad, but perhaps surprisingly it is not someone who had all that much of an impact on their postseason run, or truly a grand impact on the scoring front at all. Paula Lopez averaged just 2.6 points per game last season for Buffalo, but through four games this season, she has been the go-to scorer, averaging 15.8 points per game.
But there is slightly more intel the Bonnies have on Lopez compared to other teams, as she scored her season-high in points (13) against them last season.
“They run some really good stuff for her and and and she plays at a pace that demands you guard her,” Crowley said of Lopez. “She’s relentlessly attacking the rim in transition, in the half court, but once you get you work to take that away, she’s shooting it pretty well. She just keeps a lot of pressure on you and … her teammates really look for her, so we’ve got to guard her as a group. We got to make sure that we’re not paying so much attention to her that we’re giving other people easy things, but she certainly is their engine.”
The next three highest point-scorers for the Bulls — Meg Lucas, Aniya Rowe and Deana Thompson — are all of freshmen status. Bona will look to hold them to quiet nights as well.
St. Bonaventure and Buffalo are set to tip-off on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. in the Reilly Center.
