Bonnies Avoid Web, Easily Dispatch Richmond (Women)
By: Michaela Nolan, Contributor
The Final Result: The Bonnies used a stellar defensive effort to turn aside Richmond and earn their 19th win of the season. SBU built a ten point lead after the first quarter and would roll from that point in front of a rowdy crowd.
With this win against Richmond under their belt the Bonnies are now a very impressive 19-3 and 8-1 in the A10; good for second place. They earned their 13th straight home game win in the Riley Center, proving they are nearly impossible to beat inside their campus. They defeated the Spiders by a score of 66-43 in a game that was never in doubt. The atmosphere of the double-header on this Saturday really tremendous as over 5,000 fans packed the RC for the games. Over 2,000 fans were there for the women’s game, their largest crowd of the season. Jim Crowley’s team kicked off this double-header with a win and the men followed suite. It was the Bonnies strong defensive effort that allowed them to notch yet another win. The Bonnies allowed just ten total points in the second and third quarters, basically sealing the win early in the contest.
Player of the Game: Matea Britvar
Bonnies Player of the Game: Player of the game goes to #23, Matea Britvar. She is a sophomore forward who comes off the bench giving the team a boost in the post. Matea uses her 6-1 height to her advantage when in the paint to grab rebounds on both sides of the floor. Her size and impact in the paint were a major force today and really limited Richmond’s success on the interior. Matea was two boards away from a double-double at the conclusion of the game. At the final buzzer she had a total of 10 points and eight rebounds. She not only performed well in the box score, but also in the energy that she brought to the team, not only during the game but as well as before the game. Britvar’s energy level on both sides of the ball is a major reason why the Bonnies are having the season they are to date.
The Good Stats for the Bonnies: At the start of the game the Lady Bonnies seemed to be sinking three pointers left and right, with what looked to be relative ease. The Bonnies defense in the second and third quarters was the facet of the game that that knocked-out the Spiders. UR scored just 2….2 points in the entire second quarter. Eight points in the third quarter…SBU held Richmond to 28% shooting, finished +12 on the glass, were +8 in points in the paint, shot 45% themselves while receiving 19 bench points.
The Bad Stats: In the second quarter the Bonnies had some trouble getting to the basket because of numerous shot clock violations. This may be attributed to the fact that the underclassmen got some minutes. This is not necessarily a really bad thing because the younger, less experienced players need to begin to get acclimated with the pace of the D1 game. SBU’s 14 turnovers were a higher total than Coach Crowley wants to see, and they’ll want to cut down on that total against VCU. Allowing 39% shooting the three point range is also a slightly higher figure than the Bonnies want to see on paper after the game.
From GoBonnies:
St. Bonaventure improved its best-ever start to a season at home, moving to 13-0 at the Reilly Center … Sunday’s game was played before an announced crowd of 2,011 fans, the largest home gathering this season … the Bonnies are now 8-11 all-time vs. Richmond … Sunday’s contest aired nationally on the American Sports Network … SBU has held opponents to single digits in a quarter 23 times this season, accounting for 26 percent of all quarters … Richmond became the ninth SBU opponent to fail to reach 50 points this year … Britvar tied her career high in scoring and was one off a career best in rebounding … 10 Bonnies registered points … Ruff has posted four or more assists 16 times this year and five or more assists in seven games.
What’s Up Next: The next team that the Bonnies will take on is VCU on February 3rd. The game is at VCU. The Rams are 4-5 in the league and 15-7 overall.
Standings:
