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Feb. 16, 2008

Final Stats

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - History was made on Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center tonight as the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team snapped a 26-game losing streak to #14/13 George Washington with an exhilarating 63-60 victory over the Colonials on early Saturday evening.

The Brown and White's second ever win over a nationally ranked opponent also established the school's all-time win mark at the Division I level with 17 triumphs on the season. Including this season, the Bonnies had only reached 16 wins on four different occasions.

With the win, Bona picked up its second straight victory of the season to improve to 17-9 (5-6) with its sixth victory on Bob Lanier Court this year. Two members of the Brown and White were born in the same year as the Bonnies' last victory over the Colonials on February 23, 1989. None of the current players on the Bona bench were older than five during the school's last win over the perennial Atlantic 10 powerhouse.

This evening's loss also snapped a six-game Colonial (20-5, 8-2) winning streak as it marked just the team's second defeat in the previous 17 contests.

Four Bonnies reached double figures led by 14 points each from sophomore Dana Mitchell and junior Katelyn Murray. Mitchell extended her double digit scoring streak to 27 games dating back to last season as well as posting her sixth double-double of the year as she added 11 rebounds to her line of the box score. Murray knocked down three trifectas for the second straight game to raise her career total to 131 in her three-year career.

Sophomore Andrea Doneth and junior Erica Schiefen also contributed in the offensive output with 10 and 12 points, respectively. Doneth also added a career-high nine assists on the night. The Bonnies hold an unblemished 5-0 record this season when four players surpass the 10-point mark.

For the second straight contest, the Brown and White won the rebounding battle with a 38-34 edge on the boards. Nineteen caroms came on the offensive side of the ball and led to 17 second chance points for the club.

After connecting on a blistering 50.0 percent from the field in the first half, Bona finished the game with a 39.3 percent (24-61) clip with a 9-for-30 effort from three-point range. George Washington shot 41.8 percent (23-55) on the evening, while the A-10's highest scoring offensive attack was held to their fourth lowest scoring output of 2007-08 with 60 points.

Following a low scoring first 20 minutes of play from the Colonials, George Washington outscored the Bonnies 36-19 in the second stanza but fell short on the final count.

The Colonials wasted little time after the halftime break as the visiting opponent stormed out of the locker room on an 11-5 run to chip away at the Bona lead. Reigning All-American point guard Kimberly Beck tallied seven of her club's points to open the half beginning with a quick lay in just seven seconds into the half. Beck continued her scoring pace with George Washington's first triple of the game before capping the span with a running lay up that banked in high off the glass to cut the lead to 49-35.

Schiefen stopped the spurt with the Bonnies' first three-pointer of the half that would be the Bonnies' last field goal in six-plus minutes. In turn, George Washington's offense returned to form and exploded on a 22-4 run that saw them take their first lead of the game at 59-57 since a 2-0 advantage at the 19:39 mark of the first half.

Three straight three-pointers commenced the rally turning around a 16-point deficit to a two-point lead. Junior Antelia Parrish knocked down two of three shots from downtown while senior Sarah-Jo Lawrence connected on the other in a quick 9-0 run to slice the Bona lead to single digits at 53-46 with 12:05 remaining.

Parrish would drain another three-pointer following 1-for-2 efforts from the stripe for both clubs. The Colonials would score nine of the next 12 points with four coming off easy lay ups from junior Jessica Adair to take the two-point advantage with 3:43 remaining. Murray tallied the Bonnies only field goal during the stretch with a traditional three-point play.

Trailing by a single basket, Murray connected on a crucial three from the top of the arc to put the Bonnies back in front at 60-59 before Beck quickly knotted the score at 60-60 from the line at the 2:44 mark.

Freshman Cara Gustafson tallied the biggest three points of her young career with a single freebie at the line and a jumper that rattled around every part of the rim before catching nylon.

Beck and Lawrence each missed three-pointers in the final two seconds in hopes of sending the game to overtime.

The Brown and White put together their best 20 minutes of offensive basketball and dominated the glass to take a season-high 44-24 edge over nationally ranked George Washington into intermission. The club connected at a 50 percent rate in the first session, including six three-pointers to start the game en route to their highest first half scoring total of the season.

Despite their noticeable size disadvantage in height, the Bonnies corralled 14 offensive rebounds en route to a 26-8 edge on the boards. Bona tallied 12 second chance points in the first half.

After conceding the game's first points on a Lawrence baseline jumper, the Bonnies rattled off a 10-4 run to take a 10-6 advantage just under four minutes in. A pair of three-pointers started and finished the Bona run as Murray and Schiefen each canned a long range triple. Junior Tiara Johnson and Mitchell chipped in on the spurt with two jumpers.

The Bonnies continued to add to their first half lead thanks to back-to-back baskets from Johnson and senior Megan Ellis to push the Brown and White edge to six points at 16-10. Johnson found her way to the basket with a pretty runner from the middle of the lane that kissed off the glass before falling through the net. Ellis quickly followed with a nifty running jumper to push the lead to six points.

Following a seven-plus minute span in which the two clubs traded baskets with the Bonnies still in front by four points, the Brown and White burst out on a 21-2 run to take their largest lead of the half at 41-18. George Washington managed just three field goals in the final 9:20 of the first frame as Lawrence accounted for 14 of her club's 24 first half points.

Gustafson scored the first two of nine straight points for the home ball club as the freshman combined with Mitchell to score all nine of the Bona points. Mitchell's trifecta from the left corner extended the Bona edge to double digits for the first time at 27-16 prior to a well executed backdoor cut from Gustafson added two more points to the 13-point lead.

Doneth tallied seven of the Bona points during the stretch and continued the spurt by knocking down a jumper from the top of the key. The Bonnies sustained their hot-shooting with two straight triples from Doneth and Murray to stretch the lead to 19 points with 4:16 remaining in the half. Mitchell capped the offensive outburst with her 10th and 11th points of the night thanks to a baseline jumper to bump the advantage to 23 points.

Despite their slow start on the offensive end, the Colonials registered six of the half's final nine points to trim their deficit to 20 tallies at the break. Lawrence posted four points during the mini-run down the stretch and the club's first field goal with 1:36 left after a five-plus minute scoring dry spell.

The Brown and White are idle for the next seven days as the club returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 24 when Saint Louis visits Bob Lanier Court at 1:00 p.m.