Tag: Dukes

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+.

Men’s basketball quick hitters: Duquesne (home)

By Jeff Fasoldt @Jeff_Fasoldt

Posley regains his edge: It’s no secret that Marcus Posley has struggled to say the least since his two consecutive game winning layups at Davidson and home vs. VCU. However, today he shook off whatever’s been holding him back and put up 29 on 8-14 from the field. With point guard Jay Adams out still with a broken finger, Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt has been praying for Posley to step up and hit shots from outside—today his prayers were answered and Posley went 6-9 from three.

Cumberbatch shines on senior night: Not only did Posley have a big come back game, but senior Andell Cumberbatch showed he can score when he wants to. He was 6-12 from the field for 18 points including 4-9 from beyond the arc. The combination of Posley and Cumberbatch finally knocking down shots took Duquesne by surprise and was too much for them in this one.

Anything can happen: Going into this game Micah Mason and Derrick Colter were two of the hottest three point shooters in the A-10 at 42 and 46 percent. So, one would’ve expected this trend to continue against a Bonnies defense that has lacked solid three point defendability all season long. However, everything went the exact opposite of what you would have thought. The Bonnies shooters shined throughout the game while Duquesne struggled going just 3-15 (20 percent) from three.

Second half done Wright: Dion Wright is no doubt the Bonnies most consistent player, proven by the fact that he goes for at least 10 points almost every game. Today, as the Bonnies guards were playing well, he got off to a slow start—not scoring in the first half. But, the second half was another story as Wright scored 15, and ultimately became the dagger that ended the Dukes as he scored nine from the free throw line.

Quotes:

Duquesne head coach: Jim Ferry

“It’s tough on the road, your margin of error is significantly smaller.”

“We have to focus on getting better, we have two more games before the tournament so we’re just going to go get ready for our next game.” 

St. Bonaventure head coach: Mark Schmidt

“Give our guys credit, Colter and Mason shot 3-15 from three.”

“When you make the first one the basket seems to get bigger.” (on Posley)

“All three seniors played a big role in this one and I’m very proud of how they played.”