Courtesy: Tom Wolf Imaging Senior Brittané Russell
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Getting a game-high 22 points from Dana Mitchell, St. Bonaventure defeated the Canisius College women’s basketball team 65-47 in the Koessler Athletic Center on Tuesday night. The Golden Griffins drop their home opener and fall to 0-2 on the season.
Senior Ellie Radke has now led Canisius in scoring in both games this season, recording 16 points on the night. Senior Brittané Russell had nine points, four rebounds, six assists and five steals. Junior Micayla Drysdale added nine points on 3-of-4 shooting form behind the arc.
“That’s a great team led by a great player in Dana Mitchell,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “When we couldn’t get defensive stops, we pressed on the offensive end, looking to score quickly and made some bad decisions. Some of our shots weren’t in the flow of our offense and St. Bonaventure made us pay for that.”
St. Bonaventure (3-0) built a nine-point lead in the first half, with a layup from Alaina Walker making the score 18-9 with 7:22 remaining in the half. Russell then scored five consecutive points – a 3-pointer from the wing and an unconstested left-handed layup to cut the lead to 18-14. A jumper from Mitchell in the final minute of the half put the Bonnies up 28-22 at halftime.
St. Bonaventure took control of the game with seven points to start the half – scoring on its first three second-half possessions. A 3-pointer from Jessica Jenkins, one of five in the game for Jenkins, put the Bonnies ahead 35-22.
Canisius responded with 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, getting both 3-pointers from Drysdale, who made the score 37-30 at 17:10. Canisius cut the lead to six points on three separate occasions, but could get no closer as St. Bonaventure pulled away in the final five minutes.
Mitchell led all scorers with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jenkins added 19 points as the Bonnies shot 53.5 percent in the game and held a 33-19 advantage on the glass.
Canisius has a two-game road trip that starts on Sunday, at Youngstown State. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 456 games on a 3-pointer by Drysdale early in the first half… Prior to tipoff, the team unveiled a banner commemorating its appearance in the 2009 WNIT. The banner was unveiled by Russell and Drysdale – the team’s captains… Russell had five or more steals in a game for the 11th time in her career… Radke set a career high for the second consecutive game in minutes, playing 36 on Tuesday night… Radke has scored 15 or more points in back-to-back games for the second time in her career… Freshman Allison Braun saw her first collegiate action, playing 11 minutes and scoring her first collegiate basket… St. Bonaventure has now won the last four matchups between the teams.
Courtesy: Tom Wolf Imaging
