By SPENCER BATES
HENRICO, VA — The 2025-26 season has officially come to a close for the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team.
But it really is not all that simple.
For this year, the conclusion of the campaign comes with a bit more heartache. After all, this was the Bonnies’ first winning season in a decade. They finished with as many wins this season as they had in the past three seasons combined. They had more Atlantic 10 wins than their last three years yielded. And they finished above the bottom three in the conference table for the first time since the 2016-17 season, taking the No. 9 seed into the A10 tournament.
It was a historic season by nearly every measure.
And with 10 seconds left in its second-round game against No. 8 Loyola Chicago, there was hope that it could last even longer.
After coming up empty on consecutive possessions with time dwindling and facing two-point deficit, Bona had to either foul or get a steal. With two fouls to give, they fouled twice. But on the Ramblers third attempt at inbounding the ball, Aaliyah Parker, who ranked fourth in the A10 in steals per game, came up with the biggest swipe of the season. A couple Loyola fouls cut the time Bona had to make a play down to just six seconds and right at the horn, Bona got a contested look at a 3 from Mackenzie Pettinelli, the team’s best shooter from range.
The shot hit backboard, rim, but not the bottom of the net as the Bonnies fell 61-59.
The loss goes down as the third time the Bonnies have fallen to the Ramblers by single digits this season, losing the first by eight points and the second by three.
“Credit to Loyola, obviously they got us three different times, and did it different each time,” St. Bonaventure head coach Jim Crowley said. “I thought we gave ourselves a really good chance late, we made a couple big shots, we just couldn’t get a couple that we needed to drop to drop. But I’m proud of our group. I’m really proud of the way we competed. Hopefully we’ll get another chance at a game. But this group has been as much fun as I’ve had coaching a group in a long time. I’m just really proud of how they’ve represented the program.”
Before the season even began, Crowley noted that his team’s recruitment process put an emphasis on players that were undervalued, fit the system and, perhaps most important of all, fit St. Bonaventure.
Laycee Drake and Aaliyah Parker checked all the boxes.
Drake, having picked up an ACL injury in her third year at UMBC, made a move to UAlbany, where she played in 28 games, but started none and got just about eight minutes per contest. She took a chance on Crowley’s project and, in turn, became one of the best guards in all of the conference. To her, this season meant the world.
“This has been my favorite year of basketball in my life, no recency bias,” Drake said. “I feel like that is because of the support of our teammates and coaches.”
Drake finished the regular season as the sixth best scorer in the A10, averaging 15.3 points per game and made the second-most field goals of any player in the A10 — the only player that made more was conference Player of the Year Maggie Doogan. She also ranked 11th in rebounds (as a 5-6 guard), 14th in steals and 17th in assists per game.
Parker transferred to Bona after playing three years at Niagara, but took the 2024-25 season off due to lingering injuries. She also took a chance with Crowley, and in her lone season in the Brown and White, she posted an average of 12.6 points per game, grabbed 5.8 rebounds per contest and was one of the best defensive stalwarts in all of the conference.
She shared in Drake’s sentiment, acknowledging that there were certainly struggles this season, but the support she felt from the program was significant.
“It’s meant everything,” Parker said. “There were obviously obstacles, but I saw support from the coaches, from my teammates, from my trainer, just constant support. The confidence they had in me helped me throughout the season.”
Unfortunately, both Drake and Parker were left without a nod in any of the A10’s all-conference teams. A decision Crowley simply could not fathom.
“It was quite disappointing,” Crowley said. “There’s a little basketball ignorance for them not to be (included), to be quite honest.”
Loyola Chicago head coach Allison Guth agreed.
“Laycee Drake deserved to be recognized in this all-conference selection,” Guth said. “She’s an unbelievable player, and I think Aaliyah Parker was fantastic for them. So, we want to congratulate them on a fantastic season.”
St. Bonaventure’s Laycee Drake (24) scans the floor against Loyola Chicago. Drake recorded a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Bonnies in their loss to the Ramblers. (Atlantic 10)
Against Loyola, Drake and Parker were the two that finished as the team’s leading scorers. Parker, behind a 13-point first half, racked up 16 points, five rebounds and five steals. Drake netted a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double and tacked on five assists.
However, the Ramblers’ defense made those points extremely hard to come by. Drake was afforded barely enough space to breathe while in possession of the ball and ultimately, her 13 points came on 5-for-17 shooting. Parker found herself locked up at times as well, scoring just three points in the second half and finishing 6-of-13 from the field after going into the intermission 5-for-8.
“They were really physical with (Drake),” Crowley said. “They have multiple people that guard her, and all are different. They’ll put Chivers on her and she just gets in there and gets away with stuff. Then they have Mobley on her, who’s longer and they’ll bring Hendrix in, who is even bigger and more physical. … It’s one of the tougher teams, for us, to go against, because they have so many people that match up well with her. Allison and their team does such a good job of making sure that they are prepared and execute.”
Luckily, depth kept the Bonnies in the game as they got 16 points from others. Including six apiece from Pettinelli and Kaylee Krysztof.
In light of offense being hard to come by, the Bona defense needed to be sound. And for the most part it was, forcing 15 turnovers, which it turned into 18 points the other way. The Ramblers were able to score in bunches at times, notably at the start of each half, but responding to setbacks is what the Bonnies have done all year and each time they were knocked back, they clawed right back.
But when Loyola landed the final punch of the game, closing the affair on a 7-0 run, no response came and it was in those final moments Crowley saw how weary his team was after having dealt with similar situations all season long.
“That’s what we’ve done, and to be quite honest, I think we’re really tired,” Crowley said. “We have played 31 games now, and I think 25 of them or more have been (decided by) 10 or less. That’s a lot of games with a lot of important possessions. … It’s not like we can just roll it out and go. We got to work really hard to do what we want to do. These kids have (done that) and I’m just really proud.”
It is the end of the road and the search for an A10 tournament win continues for the Bonnies. But moving quickly past this season will be hard. Crowley was soft-spoken throughout his postgame press conference and as he pondered about the future of the program, and its continued climb back to the place it was at over a decade ago, he acknowledged how much heavy lifting this season in particular did.
“This is as proud as I have been in a group, just because of the way they kept battling,” Crowley said. “It’s a little easier to be that committed to one another when you’ve invested years in one another. These guys met each other in June and right away dug in for one another and did it all year. There wasn’t an easy game for us, and I’ve been at this long enough to know how hard that is to be part of. And I’m glad I was. I would hope, we’re in a new world, but I would hope it energizes our kids to come back. Then it’s our job as coaches to help them get better.”
St. Bonaventure ended the season with a final record of 16-15.
