Women’s basketball: Effort could help Bona’s bounce back

Last year St. Bonaventure lost 11 games.

This year, with 19 games played, the Bonnies have eight losses.

It’s been a terrible five-game losing streak for Jim Crowley and his team. Sure, the Bonnies have lost to tough teams like VCU, Dayton, Fordham and Richmond, but Crowley has not been pleased with the effort.

“Last year I could count on that we would go really hard, and I know this by watching last year’s games we would go really hard,” said Crowley. “You can’t count on that right now.”

“And that’s why I feel like they’re bad losses,” he said.

The Bonnies lost three players from last year’s team: Chelsea Bowker (graduation), Oney Harrison (transfer) and walk-on Jill Murphy (graduation). St. Bonaventure returned 83.8 percent of an offense that scored 62.4 points a game, and added five players.

The offensive scoring isn’t that much different this year. They average nearly 61 points a game.

So why does St. Bonaventure sit 1-5 tied with La Salle and Davidson for the worse record in the conference?

“(Last year) if we played hard and someone beat us, good for them. And at times that happened last year, but when we went hard last year we won a lot,” said Crowley. “And (this year) we just don’t do it.”

The mindset is not right with the players.

After a 10-0 start last night against VCU, the Bonnies were in a perfect position to get a much-needed win against a solid VCU team.

But even after a hot start, Crowley never sensed his players embracing that this would be their night.

“I don’t think they thought it was our night,” he said. “I don’t think they have that in their heads at all.”

“I wish they did,” Crowley added.

The team has shown flashes of last year’s urgency, but too many times over the course of this losing streak the Bonnies have been out of sync.

“We’re not consistently going at a hard enough level to be able to not have those times in the games where we’re given up scores in a row and transition scores,” said junior Katie Healy. “We need to put it together.”

“We are working hard at times, but it’s not consistent,” she added.

The Bonnies are not losing because other teams are better.

“We’re getting beat because we’re not playing well, and that’s bothersome,” said Crowley. “Very bothersome.”

There’s plenty of time for St. Bonaventure to play better. The Bonnies have 10 more games until the conference tournament begins.

“At this point it’s not worth thinking about the why,” said Crowley. “It’s thinking about the fix.”

St. Bonaventure has a great opportunity to get back on track this Saturday against Saint Joseph’s.

But the only way they can play better is by playing harder.