By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — On Jan. 21, two of the Atlantic 10’s best defenses went toe-to-toe as the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team hosted George Mason.
Entering the game, the Patriots sported a blemish-free 7-0 record and since conference play began they have held each of their opponents under 60 points. Now, while the Bonnies may have only brought a 3-4 A10 record into the affair, over the course of the season thus far they have kept opposing offenses to an average of 59.3 points per game — the fourth best mark in the conference.
And to no surprise, it was a low-scoring affair, as both teams put their defensive acuity on display. But one ultimately had to give way to another and down the stretch, it was George Mason that slammed the door shut as Bona suffered a 57-48 loss — its first consecutive loss of the conference season.
“I thought we executed our game plan really well,” Bona head coach Jim Crowley said. “We played really hard. We were scrambling a bit, so that put us in some tough rebound situations, and they got some big scores off of that. And to their credit, (Jada Brown) had a really nice game. (Louis Volker) had a couple big shots for them. They’re undefeated for a reason. They’re a very talented and very good team, but I thought our defense gave us a chance. And that’s what we want to keep doing.”
Where the Bona defense shines, its offense remains in search of a flow. Averaging 62.2 points per game, the third-worst mark in the conference, and coming off the back of a 28 turnover performance last time out against Fordham, Crowley was looking for a big response.
Now, he didn’t expect for his team to suddenly start scoring in droves, as the defense is the grand majority of his team’s identity. Instead what he wanted was a more confident and consistent output.
On the confidence front, he got exactly what he was looking for as the Bonnies played with a good pace and moved the ball well through a staunch defense, scoring double-figure points in each frame and shooting better from the field through three quarters (38.7% vs. 35.7%).
It was only at the very end of the affair in which Crowley was left wanting more from the offense.
“They’re as good defensively as anyone we’ve seen and we only turned it over 11 times,” Crowley said. “And (George Mason) has a good offense. They got two first team all-conference kids. They got potentially the Rookie of the Year or the Defensive Player of the Year and we gave ourselves a great opportunity. I thought we did a really good job of having some great reads on the screens. I thought we got ourselves to the paint better, I just wish we would get a little more payoff. We missed some shots in the paint. We missed some free throws. So, there are some areas we want to continue to keep getting better at.”
St. Bonaventure’s Gabby Robinson (14) pulls up for a mid-range jumper against George Mason. Robinson scored four points for the Bonnies in their loss to the Patriots. (Hunter O. Lyle)
In terms of consistency, consider that box checked off as well.
The shining jewel of the Bonnies’ A10 campaign so far was their 57-48 win over Saint Joseph’s in which eight players scored at least five points. It was the perfect encapsulation of what the depth in Crowley’s team can provide. It is now just a matter of getting that production on a night-to-night basis.
Against George Mason, Bona did lose the bench points battle, but the 14 points the non-starters did score, combined with the contributions that don’t show up on the box score, satisfied Crowley.
“I thought everybody really did some good things to help us find success,” Crowley said. “We’re playing really hard, and everybody we’re playing is playing really hard and physical. So the more bodies we have that are effective, the more different things we can do with matchups and defense. We just got to keep it going, we gotta keep getting better.”
The Bonnies had eight players score at least four points against the Patriots, but nobody for the hosts had more than Aaliyah Parker who finished with 11 points and seven rebounds. Despite clearly fighting through some level of pain, Parker, the embodiment of quiet resilience on the team, refused to slow down. This type of performance was no one-off either, all season Parker has put her body on the line for the team. She has been exactly the kind of leader Crowley is proud to have on his roster as it will only help the others.
“That toughness, that resiliency, (is great),” Crowley said. “I really like the character of our group and the togetherness. We keep those two things and we just keep getting better, that’s the goal. They’re a good group to be around. They fight like heck. I think they represent our program and the school really well and we’ll learn from this one.”
Parker was the main reason that the Bonnies had a shot to hand the Patriots their first loss in A10 play as she grabbed an offensive rebound and scored the putback while being fouled in the process. The basket put the hosts within one with three minutes on the clock. But for the remaining three minutes, a lid was put on the George Mason basket and Bona could only watch as the deficit it faced grew to an insurmountable number.
“We talked about winning the fourth quarter, and I thought we were in a good position for that,” Crowley said. “But (George Mason) made plays. They got a big shot from (Brown). They got a great shot from (Kennedy Harris). In the meantime, we were getting some pretty good looks, and just couldn’t get them to drop. So, we want to keep giving ourselves chances and keep learning. We got a lot of basketball left, and hopefully we just keep getting better.”
The first chance St. Bonaventure will have to get back to winning ways will come on Jan. 24 when it is set to play host to a La Salle team that is also in search of a big win. Tip-off for that game is set for 3 p.m.
