The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team has endured an adverse season, but tonight’s game at Rhode Island leaves room for one accomplishment.
If the Bonnies defeat the Rams at the Ryan Center, they will have earned the season sweep. While a single sweep wouldn’t move the needle much on the year’s outlook, it would ensure SBU has a better league record than URI rather than finishing in last place.
With two games to play, the Bonnies have a 7-20 record, 2-12 in Atlantic 10 play. The Rams are 3-24, 1-13 in conference. The teams own a combined 15-game losing streak, with Bona’s a game longer than URI’s.
The Rams’ only conference win came on Jan. 20 against La Salle, a 72-63 victory. That contest was directly after Bona’s 81-70 win over Rhody at the Reilly Center on Jan. 17.
Neither team has won in the last four and a half weeks. Something has to give at the Ryan Center.
“It’d be important for us to pick up a conference road win,” said Bonnies coach Jesse Fleming, whose team is 0-7 in A-10 road games. “It’s the next step that we need to take. I want our kids to get a win. They’ve battled through a lot this year and I’d like to see them get some payoff.”
Like SBU, URI has lost by both close margins and large deficits. The Rams are 1-4 in conference games decided by 10-or-fewer points, losing in that fashion in each of the last two games, at Duquesne and against Saint Louis. Preceding those results, however, was an 18-point defeat at St. Joseph’s.
Rams redshirt sophomore guard Elemy Colome scored 18 points off the bench to lead the team in scoring in the matchup at Bona. Colome hasn’t reached that number since, though she did score 17 at Duquesne.
Nicole Jorgensen, a 6-foot-5 sophomore center, scored 16 points with 11 rebounds in the first game. Jorgensen used that performance as a springboard, with double-doubles in her last three games and a 35-point, seven-rebound game at Fordham.
Jorgensen ranks 13th in the league in scoring, while Bonaventure guard Mariah Ruff ranks ninth. In A-10 play only, however, Ruff leads all scorers and Jorgensen places eighth. The standouts have hit their strides, even if their teams have struggled.
“Jorgensen can get them easy baskets near the rim,” Fleming noted. “When they play well, one of their guards steps up and has a big game.”
SBU shot nearly 50 percent in the first game (28 of 57) and limited Rhody, which had 15 more shots, under 40 percent (27 of 72). Despite Jorgensen being the tallest player on the floor, the Bona outrebounded the RAMS, 39-38. The Bonnies sent away three of their four blocks in the second half, with junior forward Arielle Harvey recording two.
“Just like Game 1, we need to share the ball and have multiple players in double-digits,” Fleming commented.
“Rhode Island is still playing really hard. They’ve kept games close over the last few weeks. They mix their defense well. That throws off teams’ offensive rhythm.”
With time ticking on the season and players and coaching staff alike yearning for that winning feeling, Fleming reiterated that tempo is key.
“We need to keep the game in our rhythm.”
