By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — The St. Bonaventure and Loyola Chicago women’s basketball teams entered their second meeting of the regular season on the back of completely opposite trends compared to the first time the sides met.
Back on Jan. 31, Bona had just been dealt a fourth consecutive loss. Loyola, on the other hand, was the winner of five of its last six games.
Entering round two on Feb. 21, the Bonnies were winners of three of their last four. Meanwhile, the Ramblers had dropped each of their last three.
So, while there was certainly a positive feeling around his team following their road trip in Virginia and a week off from games, head coach Jim Crowley knew that they were set to play host to a team that was hungry to get back in the left side of the column.
He was proven correct as suffocating defense and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch saw Loyola Chicago hand Bona a 58-55 loss, completing the season sweep.
The Ramblers came out of the gates red-hot on offense, but more importantly, defensively. The Bonnies made just one of their first nine shots from the floor mixing in a number of early turnovers as well.
St. Bonaventure’s Laycee Drake (24) pulls up for a mid-range jumper against Loyola Chicago. Drake scored a team-high 18 points for the Bonnies in their loss to the Ramblers. (Spencer Bates)
Making the start all the more difficult for the hosts was that Aaliyah Parker was unable to play. Parker had started every single game for the Bonnies this season up to that point and averages the second-most points per game of any player (12.2), only trailing Laycee Drake (15.1).
Bona eventually found a rhythm and out-scored Loyola 8-7 over the final five minutes of the opening quarter. It kept its foot on the pedal and took a 20-19 lead, its first of the game, behind a 13-0 run in the second.
But just as things were starting to look up for Crowley’s squad, the offense ground to a sharp halt and the Ramblers closed out the half with an 8-0 run that put them ahead 27-20.
“I thought they were really confident and energized,” Crowley said. “They were sharing the ball, and quite honestly, I thought we were a little rattled. We got the news with Aaliyah just a couple hours before game time. So I thought it took a little bit more time for us to get set than it normally does. Honestly, I really think the fourth quarter and the last two minutes of the second quarter made a huge difference. … I thought that was a really big part of the game.”
The Bonnies looked like a team renewed out of the break. They matched their entire first half output of 20 points in the third quarter alone. They also managed to hold the Ramblers to single digits in the frame as they flipped the scores yet again.
Through the first few minutes of the fourth quarter it looked as though Bona was set to see through the result. But after a number of turnovers that led to some easy buckets and an uptick in confidence for Loyola, Jim Crowley had to try and stop the bleeding himself.
“We had to burn a timeout and it’s one that would have been good for us to use late,” Crowley said. “I thought that was really impactful. We just got rushed. Again, it was a new situation for some people. Aaliyah has been a great finisher for us, but it was a good opportunity for some people. We just didn’t make the plays in the fourth quarter and Loyola did.”
St. Bonaventure’s Brillana Boyd (44) goes up for a layup against Loyola Chicago. Boyd scored 14 points for the Bonnies in their loss to the Ramblers. (Spencer Bates)
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. The Ramblers, specifically Alexa Kinas, who finished with a game-high 21 points, lived at the free throw line down the stretch. Bona had committed five team fouls before there were four minutes gone in the fourth quarter, which allowed the visitors to seal the win at the stripe.
Laycee Drake led the Bonnies on the scoring front, still managing to record 18 points without her partner in crime, Parker, to take away some of the attention. Brillana Boyd also had a spectacular game for Bona, netting 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting. It was her third consecutive game with at least eight points.
“She was battling some illness, but she’s finally healthy and with that, she’s really done a great job of putting the ball in the basket and giving us another inside presence,” Crowley said of Boyd. “I thought she guarded pretty well today too.”
The Bonnies have just two games left in the regular season, one apiece at home and away. So, in the wake of this loss, and ahead of the final regular season road trip, Crowley’s message to the team is one intended to elicit a consistent effort.
“We gotta tighten everything up,” Crowley said. “Everybody’s hungry right now. Everybody’s playing in desperation mode, and we saw that here. We gave ourselves a chance to get those stops, and we lost it a little bit. Because of that, Loyola ended up on top.”
St. Bonaventure will hit the road to face George Washington on Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. for its penultimate game of the regular season. It will be the second meeting of the season between the teams, the first resulting in a 54-53 Bona win on Dec. 31.
