By Ryan Lazo
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — After an up and down non-conference season, the curtain opened on Atlantic 10 Conference play for St. Bonaventure.
With the rising of the curtain, the stings of growing pains rose as well and a clean slate was laid before the Bonnies as they faced off with Temple.
And it seemed to those in attendance, the Bonnies had learned valuable lessons from a non-conference schedule that was tougher than last year’s — but it did not turn out like Bona planned.
Holding a seven point lead, 55-48, with just 6:07 remaining, Bona started to self destruct. The gritty team that fought hard over the first 33 minutes suddenly disappeared as did an offense that was clicking on all cylinders during a 59 percent shooting first half.
In the end, it was the Owls who left the Reilly Center smiling after a 67-58 win, just the Bonnies’ second loss at home this season.
“We didn’t rebound down the stretch,” Bona coach Jim Crowley said after Temple snapped his team’s 18-game A-10 regular season winning streak. “When you are up by seven with six minutes to go at home, you have to finish it off.”
But the Bonnies did not finish it off.
In the last three minutes of the game, the stronger team normally pulls away, but this Bona (7-9, 0-1) squad collapsed. They allowed back-to-back offensive rebounds for an easy Temple score and followed that up with two straight possessions of turning the ball over.
But even with the turnovers, Bona still had a chance because of their ability to break down the Owls’(7-8, 1-0) defense.
“I had no problem with how we played offensively,” Crowley said after his team’s 45 percent shooting effort for the game. “Later in the second half, we weren’t attacking with the same authority that we had been.”
And that lack of authority showed when both Alaina Walker and CeCe Dixon, the Bonnies best drivers, missed lay-ups which would have pulled the game even closer.
However, it is apparent that the strength of this Bona team is also its biggest weakness. Bona lost four seniors to graduation from a team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season.
This year’s squad features old players in unfamiliar roles and freshmen who are just beginning to learn the college game. Take one look around the stats or take in one Bona basketball game and it’s easy to see the talent is there.
The hard part it is learning what it takes to be a consistent winner.
“At the end of the day we needed to win the ball some more and we didn’t,” Crowley said. “Now does that inspire us and help us learn that lesson? The way we played today, we are going to win some games.”
Crowley’s right.
The Bonnies are too talented not to win some games in the A-10 Conference.
Doris Ortega is Bona’s best offensive player and she put on a show against one of the premier scorers in the conference. Ortega matched Victoria Macauley, who is top five in five different A-10 categories, shot for shot in a 16-point, eight-assist effort that nearly helped Bona win the game.
“With Katie playing, it allows us to put Doris out on the perimeter and she’s not only good at going to the basket, but she’s also really good at finding people,” Crowley said.
But, almost like a mirror image of past Bona players, Ortega is never satisfied.
“There is no excuse. I should have made the shots,” Ortega said of her rough second half. “But my team gave me confidence to keep shooting.”
While Ortega is Bona’s most talented player, this team has other weapons with the freshmen in Katie Healy, Emily Michael and Nyla Rueter.
Healy, at 6-foot-1, provides the presence that left with Megan Van Tatenhove last season. While her post game is raw, she shows flashes of greatness under the basket. But more importantly — she can extend out to 15 to 18 feet for mid-range jumpers as well.
Meanwhile, Michael has earned her way into the starting lineup because of the leadership qualities she possesses. The team’s starting point guard rarely makes a bad decision and attacks the boards as evidenced by her five rebounds against the Owls.
However, Michael can also make one do double take when she comes off a screen and begins nailing 3-pointers from all around the Reilly Center. Michael did her best Jessica Jenkins impression against Temple with her 4-for-5 shooting effort from 3-point range.
“I have great teammates that can penetrate and kick, and that’s where I’m good,” Michael said with laughter. “When they do what they do best, I do what I do best.”
And one can’t discount the effort of Rueter’s 4-for-5 shooting effort for eight points on the afternoon.
Bona is loaded with talent, albeit young talent, meaning there will be days like they had against Temple. But whether they learn from it is the big money question.
“There’s going to be those mistakes, there’s going to be those growing pains,” Crowley said. “But we are the point now where we can’t consistently have them, no matter the youth we have. We can’t blow another lead because we don’t rebound again.”
Young players will make mistakes, but whether this Bona team learns from them and doesn’t make them again will determine the amount of success they’ll have this season.
Ryan Lazo can be reached on Twitter @RMLazo13
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