By Kyle Soppe
Two teams that were picked to finish in the middle of the pack, Richmond and SBU clashed on Wednesday night. Overcoming some early foul trouble, the Bonnies picked up a statement win, defeating the Spiders 76-59. It didn’t play out ideally for the Bonnies, but the sign of a great team is their ability to win amidst adversity, and they did that in convincing fashion against the visiting Spiders.
The Spiders came into this showdown with a simple mindset; attack the rim. This was evident from the very beginning when Gen Okoro took a powerful right handed dribble and drove to the basket as if no one was defending her. Megan Van Tatenhove (12.1 points per game) was a bit out of position and picked up a quick foul. Okoro knocked down the two freebies, but more importantly, sent a message to the A-10 leader that the Spiders were ready for a 40 minute battle.
Okoro, whose athleticism has yet to be matched, converted a layup off of a nice inbound pass from Abby Oliver. Her aggressiveness created opportunities for her teammates, and consequently problems for the front line of the Bonnies. Okoro spotted Liz Brown cutting into the paint, as Van Tatenhove trailed. Brown caught the pass and stopped on a dime, an intelligent play that saddled the Bonnies senior stud with her second foul in the games first 70 seconds, and sidelined her for the rest of the half.
St. Bonaventure, however, hasn’t won 16 of 18 games (including all three A-10 games) by relying on a single player. Jessica Jenkins (14 ppg) led the now guard oriented line up, as SBU actually outplayed the Spiders despite missing their starting forward. Jenkins took one left handed bounce and launched a confident trey. As the top shooter from three point land, Jenkins knew the result of the shot before it swished through the nylon. Despite swarming defense by Richmond’s Kristina King, Jenkins gathered and drove to right this time, pulled up in one flawless motion, and dropped in a mid range jumper.
As the Spiders defense started to deny the soon to be A-10 career leader in three pointers, sophomore Doris Ortega (5.9 ppg) took over the scoring duties. As a strong mid range threat, Ortega simply took what the defense gave her, and tallied six quick points. Ortega served as a band aid on the offensive end for Van Tatenhove, but SBU could not solve the inside presence of Gen Okoro in the first half.
Okoro continued to attack the bigs of SBU, and could not be stopped. She displayed tremendous touch as she kissed an eight footer of the window to momentarily give the Spiders a 16-14 lead. For the first half, Okoro totaled 16 points on 5/10 shooting from the field and 6/6 from the charity stripe.
But the amazing balance of the Bonnies enabled them to take a 38-28 lead into the locker rooms. Taking a page out of Ortega’s book, Armelia Horton (7.7 ppg) caught fire for three minutes, scoring six straight for SBU. With a slim lead, Jenkins took center stage, proving why she is among the most feared marksman in D1. In between raining down threes with multiple Spiders contesting, she delivered a slick bounce pass to a cutting Jordan McGee, leaving the Richmond defense baffled as to how to stop this potent attack.
Playing at full strength for the first time since the opening tip, the Bonnies began the second half with the intention to finish off the visiting Spiders. Van Tatenhove recorded her first bucket on the halves second possession, and SBU used suffocating man to man defense to keep Richmond from making a field goal for nearly six minutes. Although Van Tatenhove did pick up her third foul less than four minutes into the second stanza, the Bonnies did not struggle to find contributors on the offensive end. With the long range prowess of Jenkins spreading the Spiders defense, Ortega and Horton continued to find their way without much trouble. Ortega sliced and diced her way for an easy lay in, followed by a mid range catch and shoot from Horton. The home team was threatening to pull away, as their lead extended to 47-33, the largest it had been all night.
After a slow start to the half, the Spiders began to score on every possession. Liz Brown’s short range shot got things going for Richmond, and then Oliver found her stroke. She calmly dribbled down the court and pulled up from just above the foul line, nothing more than a layup for the Spider senior. A instant replay on the next possession, and Oliver was finding her groove. A Becca Wann floater trimmed the deficit to 10 points, and got the Richmond bench excited. But basketball is just as much about scoring as it is preventing scores, and Richmond could simply not do the latter.
Jennie Ashton (1.8 ppg), who saw extended time due to Van Tatenhove’s foul trouble, was to much for Richmond on the interior. Off of a Jenkins miss, Ashton collected the rebound in the paint, gathered, and finished over the shorter Spiders. With the lead now 15, SBU was in control, and looking to join Charlotte as the only unbeaten teams in conference play.
The offensive battle continued, making a comeback near impossible. While Richmond would get as close as 64-55 following a triple for Becca Wann that was set up by Oliver, the Bonnies attack could not be contained. The shootout was far from expected, as Richmond (59 points allowed per game) and St. Bonaventure (52) rank in the top five in defense in the A-10.
Gen Okoro led the Spiders with a game high 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Oliver scored 17 points. Kristina King, in only her second career start, was impressive, as she totaled eight points and often initiated the offense. The Bonnies held Rachael Bilney (32 points against George Washington) in check, not allowing her any breathing room on the perimeter. Her two points on four shots were both season lows, as Richmond has seen their offensive efficiency dip dramatically with conference play.
Bonaventure was paced by sharp shooting Jenkins, who tallied a team high 18 points. Her four three pointers moved her within five made long balls of the all time A-10 career record. Horton (14 points) and Ortega (10) combined to shoot 10/19 from the field, providing a much needed spark when Van tatenhove (8 points) headed to the bench. Ashton filled the void on the glass, snaring 10 rebounds. The Bonnies averaged 2.33 assists for every turnover, a very telling stat in an offensively oriented game. They also held the rebounding advantage (42 to 31) and attempted 12 more shots than Richmond.
The Bonnies figure to appear in this weeks national rankings again, as they dominated the 14 win Spiders. After falling behind in the games opening three minutes, the Bonnies never again trailed. St. Bonaventure won’t have long to enjoy this victory, as they head to Charlotte on Saturday, in an attempt to stand alone atop the A-10. Richmond will host a La Salle team also looking for a bounce back performance on Saturday.
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