RICHMOND, VA – Davidson, playing without its two leading scorers, advanced into the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship Second Round following a 69-61 victory over 13th-seeded St. Bonaventure Wednesday afternoon at VCU’s Siegel Center.
“We’ve never let injuries or COVID really affect how we feel about each other and the game of basketball and the intensity we bring to the court,” Davidson’s Katie Turner said. “Having lost twice to St. Bonaventure earlier in the year, I’m just really proud of this group and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Cassidy Gould led Davidson with 19 of her career-high 25 points scored in the first half on 8-of-12 (.667) shooting. Gould previously scored 22 points twice this season.
Gould scored in double figures in three of Davidson’s final five games, though against Saint Louis and Dayton, the Wildcats last regular-season opponents, she was held under that mark.
Adelaide Fuller scored 12 of her 17 points in the third quarter as Davidson took advantage of her paint presence.
Sarah Konstans also make a key contribution towards Davidson’s cause with her double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds.
“Sarah’s such a great rebounder and has a nose for the ball,” Davidson coach Gayle Fulks said. “She gets rebounds out of area and carves out space to get the ball. We need that from her and I was really happy for her to get that double-double. She worked really hard. She was great around the rim for us also and that was a nice bonus.”
Katie Turner netted 11 points which included three made 3-point shots. One of those triples came with 2:47 remaining in regulation which placed Davidson back in front by two possessions, a lead they never surrendered.
Davidson won the rebounding battle by a 45-35 mark and scored 17 points off 11 St. Bonaventure turnovers.
“I thought we had a great game plan coming in and were able to execute things early to give ourselves some confidence,” said Fulks. “We made adjustments as the game was going along. I’m really proud of the intensity we started the game with. At different times they were playing us different ways and we able to capitalize. That takes focus, being consistently great playmakers. That’s what we work on every single day and I was proud to see it happen today.”
Asainae Johnson paced St. Bonaventure with her 18 points on 7-of-14 (.500) shooting. Tori Harris grabbed a double-double of her own with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
“A lot of credit to Gayle and her staff -- they had a really good game plan against us, they switched a lot of things,” St. Bonaventure coach Jesse Fleming said. “We put in a lot of effort to get better against the zone. It was something that affected us and our flow. The rebounding margin was a big difference, they got themselves some second opportunities today. I want to give our players credit for the whole season. They showed up every day and did extra, I had a great group of kids. My heart breaks for them.”
This game had nine lead changes.
Neither team could find consistent shots to fall in the early going, but in a first quarter that saw four different lead changes, Gould was able to put nine points together, including Davidson’s opening six points of Wednesday afternoon’s game.
With Davidson up by one point towards the end of the quarter, St. Bonaventure’s Maddie Dziezgowski converted a second-chance 3-point basket to place the Bonnies in a 15-13 advantage after 10 minutes.
These teams continued to exchange the lead in the second quarter with each making small runs in the stanza.
With St. Bonaventure up by one point, Davidson went on a 12-2 run, holding the Bonnies scoreless for 4:52 which allowed it to be back in front by nine points.
Up six point at halftime, Davidson found a post advantage, feeding the ball to Fuller and going on a 9-2 scoring run to begin the third quarter.
“Adelaide is a super-talented player and we know that’s a really good option for us,” Davidson's Cassidy Gould said. “At the start of the game, the defense was different, we were getting those drives to the basket. When they started to close us out, that middle opened up and she really took advantage. She played her heart out. We love and expect that from her because she’s a great player.”
Down 13, St. Bonaventure battled back with an 11-4 as Olivia Brown made two 3-point shots during this stretch for the Bonnies.
With Harris scoring 10 points in the third quarter, St. Bonaventure turned an early-period deficit into a three-point hole after 30 minutes.
Another 9-2 Davidson start, this time to open the third quarter, placed the Wildcats back in front by double digits.
St. Bonaventure did counter with a 7-0 run of its own locking in defensively to hold Davidson scoreless for 2:44 to bring its deficit back to three points, but Turner’s key 3-point basket refocused the Wildcats and it would close the game at the free-throw line.
Davidson will face fifth-seeded VCU in an Atlantic 10 Championship second-round affair. The game will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. and be carried by ESPN+. If the Wildcats can emerge victorious, it will be their third consecutive A-10 Championship quarterfinal appearance.