BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team (6-1) held Binghamton (4-3) to a school-record nine first-half points, gave up the fewest points in a game since joining Division I and opened the season 5-0 on the road for the first time in program history with a 49-34 win over the Bearcats Saturday afternoon.
The Bonnies held Binghamton to just 14.8 percent shooting (4-27) in the first half as they maintained a 17-9 advantage at the intermission. A relative offensive explosion in the second half saw senior Jessica Jenkins tally 14 of her game-high 19 points, including four of her five 3-pointers as Bona led by double figures for all but one minute of the second half.
Jenkins knocked down five 3-pointers for the second time this year. Classmate Megan Van Tatenhove was the lone other Bona player to get into double-figure scoring as she finished with 10 in just 15 foul-plagued minutes. Junior Alaina Walker and sophomore Doris Ortega both pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Bonnies as the two clubs finished tied on the glass, 36-36.
The Bonnies had only started 4-0 on the road in one previous season as the 2009-10 squad lost in its fifth attempt at Michigan State. The Brown and White are now 6-0 all-time versus Binghamton and extended their win streak to 11 games over America East schools.
The previous record for fewest points by an opponent was 35, as the Bonnies defeated Yale, 68-35, on Jan. 4, 2009. The 35-point total was also matched by Massachusetts on Jan. 28, 2005, as the Minutewomen fell, 49-35. The Bonnies joined the Division I ranks in 1986-87, and prior to that the school record for fewest points in a game by an opponent was 18 by D’Youville during the 1972-73 season.
Andrea Holmes led Binghamton with 12 points, while Orla O’Reilly finished with 10 as the Bearcats shot 38.5 percent in the second half to finish the game 14-53 (26.4 percent). BU was just 2-19 (10.5 percent) from the 3-point line. In the last two games, the Bonnies have held their opponents to a combined 4-38 (10.5 percent) from the 3-point line.
Bonaventure held Binghamton to just one made field goal – a Holmes’ 3-pointer – in the final 16:15 of the first half. The Bearcats didn’t score a point in the last 9:34 of the first half through the 17:50 mark of the second half.
St. Bonaventure returns to action on Wednesday when it begins a four-game homestand by hosting the Big 10’s Indiana Hoosiers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the Reilly Center as the Bonnies look to avenge last year’s six-point loss to the Hoosiers.
GAME NOTES: Redshirt senior Armelia Horton missed her third straight game as she recovers from a head injury … sophomore Ashley Zahn played a career-high 12 minutes and knocked down her first field goal of the year … the Bonnies are now 5-0 against teams they played last year …Bona turned the ball over just 12 times after committing a season-high 17 against Kent State Wednesday … Binghamton assistant coach Sarah Cartmill served on Jim Crowley ‘s staff from 2006-10 … the last SBU loss to an America East member was against New Hampshire on Nov. 25, 2003.
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