Dec. 22, 2007

Complete Game Notes 

At A Glance
The St. Bonaventure women's basketball team will take part in its seventh straight contest away from Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center this afternoon against IPFW. For the second consecutive season, the Bonnies have enjoyed great success on the road as they have already grabbed five true road triumphs and six victories away from the southwestern New York campus. After dropping consecutive contests following a season opening five-game win streak, the Bonnies have captured four wins in a row entering this afternoon's tilt. Today's match up will be the first meeting between St. Bonaventure and IPFW in series history. The Mastodons have started the 2007-08 campaign with a 4-6 mark and are in the midst of three games in four days, including this afternoon's clash with the Bonnies. A live video feed of today's game can be found on www.gobonnies.com.

Last Time Out: Brown and White escape with victory at FDU
Six out of eight free throws in the final minute of regulation sealed a 43-41 victory for the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team over Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday evening at the Rothman Center. Sophomore Dana Mitchell posted her second double-double of the season with a game-high 16 points and a career best 12 rebounds. Freshman Cara Gustafson chipped in with nine points, while fellow classmate Armelia Horton added eight points and six rebounds in her first extended action since suffering an injury at Bowling Green. The Brown and White defense forced Fairleigh Dickinson into shooting an overall 24.5 percent for the night, while the Bonnies turned 20 Knight turnovers into 19 points. Fairleigh Dickinson's 41 points were the fewest allowed by the Bona defense since Colgate's identical number earlier this season.

Best Beginning in the Books
Following the Bonnies victory at Fairleigh Dickinson, the Brown and White matched the program's best beginning in school history after 11 contests with a 9- 2 record. The 1992-93 edition of the Bonnies established the mark 15 years ago with nine wins in their first 11 games. With a win at IPFW this afternoon, the 2007-08 Bonnies can create a new mark for the best beginning in the St. Bonaventure record books with 10 out of 12 wins to start a season.

Scouting the Mastodons
IPFW enters this afternoon's contest with a 4-6 mark following three straight losses heading into today's meeting with the Bonnies. The Mastodons are in the midst of their third game in four days with IPFW dropping the first two games on back-toback days to Butler and Detroit. IPFW is led by senior Johnna Lewis-Carlisle, who leads the 'Dons in points (19.7), assists (2.7) and steals (2.1) per game. The Lexington, Ky. product ranks eighth in the nation in scoring. In their first 10 games, the Mastodons have been susceptible on the glass, giving up an average of 46.2 rebounds per game. In his third season in charge, head coach Chris Paul led IPFW to a 12-17 record last year.

Against the Summit League
This afternoon's meeting between St. Bonaventure and IPFW will be the Bonnies first match up in program history between a school currently residing in the Summit League. The 10-team conference is in its first season as the Summit League after being known as the Mid-Continent Conference for the past 25 years.

On this Date
The Bonnies will play just their second game all-time on today's date. The Brown and White dropped a 68-80 decision to Michigan on December 23 in the 2005-06 season.

Season of Streaks
After opening the 2007-08 season with five straight wins, the Brown and White are currently on a four game win streak with two defeats in between. The longest winning streak in program history stands at seven games and most recently reached in 1979-80 on two different occasions.

Dipping into Double Digits
With a win today at IPFW, the Bonnies will become the 20th team in school history to post double figure wins and the first to reach 10-plus wins in back-to-back seasons since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 clubs each posted ten wins in consecutive seasons. St. Bonaventure can also become the fastest team in the program record books to 10 wins, breaking last season's January 2 date by 11 days. Under head coach Jim Crowley, the Brown and White have surpassed 10 wins on two occasions, including last season's 16 victories that sit second all-time in single-season wins.

Road Warriors
Although the Bonnies were treated to a brand new home playing surface named after St. Bonaventure legend Bob Lanier, the Brown and White have no complaints regarding their road heavy schedule. Head coach Jim Crowley has directed his team to five true road wins and six triumphs away from the RC. As of Dec. 22, the Bonnies' five victories on opponent's home floors were tied with Auburn,Dayton, Illinois St. and Louisville for most in the nation.

Records on the Road
Following 11 games of St. Bonaventure's 2007-08 campaign, the Bonnies are approaching numerous feats accomplished by last season's 16-15 club. With two more victories in a row, the Brown and White can match the all-time mark of six consecutive victories away from the Reilly Center. The Bonnies also need just two additional true road triumphs to tie the record for most away wins in a season of seven.

Leading the League
Sophomore sensation Dana Mitchell sits atop the Atlantic 10 scoring chart through 11 games as her 18.9 points per contest is the highest among all A-10 players. Mitchell ranks 26th in the nation in scoring and is fifth among second-year players. Halftime Lead = Victory The Bonnies are 18-0 dating back to last season when owning an advantage heading into intermission.

Atop the A-10
Following the official start to the 2007-08 college basketball season, the Bonnies own one of the best starts among Atlantic 10 Conference affiliates. St. Bonaventure is one of only two teams in the league with two losses and was the last school in the conference to suffer their second defeat.

Out of Conference Success
Dating back to last season's six-game win streak to conclude the non-conference slate, the Bonnies have notched 15 victories in their last 17 games outside of the Atlantic 10, including five in a row at the Reilly Center.

The Season of Winning
After posting a 6-1 mark in the month of December during last season's record setting season, the Brown and White are off to a 4-1 start this holiday season. Although the Bonnies opened this month with a loss to nationally ranked West Virginia, the club has responded with consecutive victories at Florida Atlantic, Colgate, Canisius and Fairleigh Dickinson.

First in the Books
In just her second season with the Bonnies, sophomore Dana Mitchell has showed a penchant for putting the ball through the basket in her first 40 collegiate contests. The reigning Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team selection has led the Brown and White in scoring in every game this season but one, while ranking first in the league with 18.9 points per game. Since her arrival on campus, Mitchell has paced her club in scoring 22 times.

Cleaning the Glass
Despite the extended absence of junior Ashley Edwards and her 2006-07 team best average of 7.4 rebounds per game, the Bonnies' advantage on the boards has been a key element in the club's 9-2 start. Following their first eleven contests, the Brown and White own a +4.7 rebounding margin that ranks fourth in the A-10, while the club.s 32.0 defensive caroms allowed per contest place the Bonnies atop the conference rankings. Junior point guard Tiara Johnson tied the eighth best single game rebounding performance in school history with 16 caroms at Florida Atlantic en route to a team-best average of 7.2 boards per game. The Bonnies are 7-1 this season when outrebounding their opponents.

Interstate Rivalry
Following victories over Albany, Binghamton, Niagara, Colgate and Canisius, the Bonnies hold an unblemished 5-0 mark against schools from New York State. The Bonnies will play four more contests against teams from their home state in the battle for Empire State supremacy. After the Brown and White visit New Jersey and Indiana, St. Bonaventure will face back-to-back contests against New York schools Binghamton and Syracuse. The Bonnies have already defeated the Bearcats earlier this season, 58-53, at the St. Bona Shootout.

Mighty Mitchell
After turning in one of the finest freshman seasons in program history, sophomore Dana Mitchell has picked up where she left off with the beginning of the 2007-08 season. In her first 11 contests of her second year, Mitchell has posted 11 straight double figure scoring efforts, including five 20-plus point performances (t-1st in the A- 10) as well as two double-doubles. She has also proved to be a presence on the boards, hauling down 6.4 caroms per contest for second place on the Brown and White.

Jack of All Trades
In her first season in the Brown and White, junior Tiara Johnson has excelled in her initial ten Division I contests as a do-it-all quarterback for the Bonnies. In the absence of three-year starter Priscilla Edwards, Johnson has flashed the same attributes she displayed in the junior college ranks that attracted the Bonnies to the North Central Missouri State product. Through ten games, Johnson ranks second on the team in assists (32), first in rebounds (72), tied for second in steals (11) and sixth in points (58). To display her versatility, Johnson pulled down 16 boards to tie the eighth best rebounding effort in school history at Florida Atlantic. In her most recent performance at Canisius, the junior stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Stat keepers beware, the Kansas City native will keep you busy throughout game.

Close Contests
With 11 games into the 2007-08 season, the Bonnies have already posted seven victories in game's decided by 10 points or less. The Brown and White recorded six wins in the same category during all of last year.

Home Court Advantage
After three official games have been played on Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center, the St. Bonaventure women.s basketball team possesses an undefeated 3-0 record on the fresh new playing surface named after the St. Bonaventure basketball legend and NBA Hall of Famer. The Bonnies sparked the trend with a 61-55 season opening victory against Bucknell before extending the winning streak by holding onto a 15- point second half lead in their two-point win vs. Albany. In their last outing on the home floor, the Brown and White cruised to a 76-57 win against Niagara to lengthen the St. Bonaventure winning streak to three games.

Long Range Production
Thanks to the shooting from junior classmates Katelyn Murray and Erica Schiefen, the Brown and White rank first in the Atlantic 10 and 25th in the nation in threepoint field goal percentage. With 11 games in the books, the Bonnies have connected from behind the arc at a rate of 36.3 percent. Following her six triples in the last three games, Murray leads the team with 17 trifectas on the season and ranks 11th in the A-10 with a 37.8 conversion rate from three-point land. Schiefen has connected at a rate of 34.2 percent en route to draining 13 three-pointers. Freshman Cara Gustafson and sophomore Andrea Doneth have also chipped in from threepoint land with nine and seven treys, respectively.

Taking Care of the Rock
Although the Bonnies are in the midst of the holiday season, the Brown and White have refused to follow the Christmas adage that "it's better to give than receive." Through 11 games, St. Bonaventure has given up the ball just over 15 times per game that ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 and 33rd in the nation. The Bonnies own a 5-1 mark when having fewer turnovers than their opponent. Sophomore Andrea Doneth and junior Tiara Johnson are big reasons for the low number of giveaways as both rank in the top 15 in the conference in assist/turnover ratio.

500-Point Club
Just ten games into the 2007-08 season, two members of the Brown and White have already surpassed the 500-point mark in their careers. Earlier this season at Bowling Green, sophomore Dana Mitchell shattered the mark in just her 36th collegiate contest and currently has 601 tallies next to her name. Junior Katelyn Murray eclipsed 500 points at Colgate and pushed her career total to 530 tallies after a career-high 22 points at Canisius two games ago. Fellow classmate Ashley Edwards is next in line as she is just 22 points shy of 500. Edwards recently made her return to the Brown and White lineup against the Raiders after missing the first eight contests due to injury.

Double Digit Streak
With 11 straight double figure scoring efforts to begin the season, sophomore Dana Mitchell has tallied 12 consecutive and 32 of her last 37 games with at least 10 points. The Fairless Hills, Pa. product is currently tied for the Atlantic 10 lead with five 20-point games this season.

Ashley Back in Action
After missing the first eight games due to injury, junior forward Ashley Edwards returned to the Bonnies' lineup against Colgate on Saturday, Dec. 8. In her second game of action since the 2006-07 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, Edwards tallied 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds in 20 minutes of action off the bench. The Philadelphia product posted 8.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore for the Brown and White. In just two seasons, she developed into one of the premier rebounders in the A-10 as her 7.4 caroms per contest ranked eighth in the league last season. Edwards is just 14 rebounds short of joining the program's top 20 rebounding chart.