Bonnies to battle Bulls Sunday in fourth round of WNIT
March 28, 2009
Game Notes 
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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Sunday, March 29, 2009
TIP-OFF: 1:00 P.M. ET
ARENA: Reilly Center (5,780)
SITE: Bob Lanier Court
WEB VIDEO: www.GOBONNIES.com
RADIO: WSBU (88.3 FM)
Talent: Kevin Clark (Play-by-Play)
Shannon Shepherd (Color)
RADIO: WPIG (95.7FM)/WHDL (1450AM)
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Color)
SERIES: First Meeting
WITH A WIN: WNIT Semifinals
Boston College or Georgetown
AT A GLANCE
St. Bonaventure will take on South Florida in the fourth round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament on Sunday afternoon at the Reilly Center. St. Bonaventure has already set program records for total wins (23) and home wins (13) this season. The Bonnies most recent 56-51 WNIT win over Big Ten foe Wisconsin on Thursday, March 26, is their third win this season against a BCS school, setting a new program record.
SERIES HISTORY
Sunday's game will be the first-ever meeting between St. Bonaventure and South Florida. The Bonnies have a 3-14 all-time record against the Big East Conference. The Brown and White are 1-1 against the Big East this season, losing to Syracuse 69-68 at home on December 28, while posting a win last weekend over West Virginia, 68-63, at the Reilly Center on Sunday, March 21.
HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Jim Crowley
@ St. Bonaventure: 110-151 (9th)
Overall: 149-189 (13th)
Vs. South Florida: 0-0
SOUTH FLORIDA HEAD COACH
Jose Fernandez
@ South Florida: 140-133 (9th)
Overall: same
Vs. St. Bonaventure: 0-0
Scouting the Bulls
South Florida enters Sunday's game against the Brown and White coming off of a 74-57 victory over Mississippi in its third round game of the WNIT on Thursday evening. South Florida finished the regular season in eighth place in the Big East standings with a 21-9 overall record and an 8-8 conference mark. The Bulls defeated Florida Gulf Coast University 88-81 in the second round of the WNIT after earning a first round bye to open the tournament. Under ninth-year head coach Jose Fernandez, the Bulls have made six straight postseason appearances, including a trip to the NCAA Tournament during their 2006-07 season. Leading USF on the offensive end this season are a trio of seniors in Shanita Grace, Jazmine Sepulveda and Jessica Lawson. Grace leads the team in both scoring, averaging 14.6 points per game, and assists with 4.7 helpers per game. Sepulveda pours in 11.9 points per game to go along with a team-high 91 steals, while Lawson averages 10.6 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game from her post position. As a team, South Florida ranks second in the Big East in both blocks per game (5.7) and steals per game (10.7). The Bulls also have one of the most explosive and high-powered offenses that ranks second in the league, averaging 77.9 points per game. Four players average in double figures for South Florida, who has made 255 three-pointers, to date, on the season.
Block Party
The Brown and White put together an incredible defensive effort in their win over Wisconsin on March 26. The Bonnies recorded nine blocks against the Badgers, including eight rejections in the second half. St. Bonaventure easily set a new season-high for blocks in a single game, surpassing its previous high of five set against Yale and FDU back in non-conference play. Senior Erica Schiefen led the way with three rejections for the Bonnies, setting a new career-high.
Comeback Kids
The St. Bonaventure women's basketball team has been making life a lot more interesting due to its play of late. The Bonnies have let both West Virginia and Wisconsin build up 14-point leads going into halftime of their respective WNIT games, only to storm back in the second halves of both games to pull out victories. What makes the comeback wins even more amazing, is the 14-point halftime deficits were the largest the Brown and White have faced all year.
Twice as Nice
Junior Dana Mitchell's 18-point performance against West Virginia put her season total up to 502 tallies. The Fairless Hills, Pa, product has now gone over the 500-point plateau in back-to-back seasons. In program history, only two other players have scored at least 500 points in back-to-back seasons. Hilary Waltman scored 606 points and 583 points in back-to-back seasons in 1997-98 and 1998-99, while Sue Shay scored 590 points and 520 points in 1988-89 and 1889-90.
Put a Lid on It
The Bonnies magical WNIT run has been fueled by lockdown defense in the second half of both of their wins over West Virginia and Wisconsin. Over those two games, St. Bonaventure has given up a combined 40 points, eight field goals and has held its two opponents to a 16 percent (8-50) shooting clip in the second half. Against West Virginia, the Bonnies held the Mountaineers to 10 percent shooting in the second half, and Wisconsin to just 20 percent shooting the entire second stanza.
Sending off our Seniors
Seniors Ashley Edwards, Priscilla Edwards, Katelyn Murray and Erica Schiefen have all been key contributors in the Bonnies resurgence over the past four seasons. This senior class has helped set multiple program records including most wins in a single season, with 23 this year, and the most wins over a two-year span in program history, with 41. In their careers at St. Bonaventure, this senior class has accumulated 66 total wins over their four seasons.
Dana-mite
Junior Dana Mitchell is in the midst of an incredible scoring streak against Bonnies opposition this season. Mitchell has scored in double figures in 19 consecutive games, including all 14 of the Brown and White's A-10 games. On the season, Mitchell has hit double-digits in 30 out of 33 games, including eight performances of 20 points or more. Mitchell had another brilliant season scoring the basketball, finishing second in the A-10 at 15.2 points per game. Her second-place finish comes after winning the A-10 scoring title last season, averaging a league-best 18.1 points per game.
