PREVIEW: Bona women open season with Friday slate at Duquesne

photo courtesy of gobonnies.sbu.edu

By Dustyn Green

PITTSBURGH, PA — It has been over nine months since the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team and head coach Jesse Fleming have played an official game. However, that will change on Friday afternoon when the Duquesne Dukes and head coach Dan Burt play host to the Bonnies.

The Dukes have an immediate advantage, as they have played two games already this season, facing Ohio State and St. Francis (PA). The Dukes fell to the then-20th ranked Buckeyes, 82-47, before edging St. Francis, 69-67. This will be the team’s “home” opener, as the game will be played at La Roche University.

In each of the first two matchups, at least three players tallied 15 or more minutes off the bench for Duquesne. Tanaya Beacham had 23 minutes against the Buckeyes, and Jada Dupaa clocked in for 20 against St. Francis. Despite seeing a significant amount of action in those games, the bench only scored a total of 42 points.

Amanda Kailin has averaged 13.5 points per game to lead the team over its first two games, while Laia Sole has been a double-double threat, averaging 7.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

The Dukes have seen a total of 116 points on their side of the scoreboard. Of those 116 points, 96 of them have come from either in the paint or on the free-throw line. The Dukes have made 81.8% of their shots from the charity stripe.

If they’re going to find success, the Bonnies need to take the paint away from Duquesne and exhaust the Dukes on defense to force them into tough situations.

The game commences at 2 p.m. on Friday, and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.