Nov. 11, 2006
Final Stats
St. Bonaventure, N.Y. - Siena women's basketball (0-1) dropped their season-opener 80-60 to St. Bonaventure (1-0) at the Reilly Center this afternoon. Freshman Dana Mitchell led the way for the Bonnies with 17 points and seven rebounds. Junior Melissa Manzer (Johnson City, N.Y./Johnson City) tied a career high registering 13 points on the day.
"Our youth and inexperience showed today, especially in the second half," said Castelli. "Our team played hard, but we need to play smarter as we move through the season."
Both teams exchanged buckets early on as the lead changed five times in the first eight minutes of play. At 10:26, forward Audrey Latendresse buried a 3-pointer extending the Bonnies lead to six, their largest of the first half. The Saints battled back minutes later with consecutive 3-pointers from senior Katelyn Dooley (Troy, N.Y./Lansingburgh) and guard Liga Alpe-Luka (Liepaja, Latvia/Liepaja No. 5) taking a 27-25 advantage. Sophomore Laura Menty (Wilbraham, Mass./Minnechaug) laid one in with just 12 seconds remaining in the first to give the Saints a 33-31 edge entering halftime.
St. Bonaventure struck first coming out of the half when Latendresse tied the game at 33-33 with a lay up just 10 seconds into the second. Just over a minute later, Manzer spotted up buried a 3-pointer from the corner jumping out to a 36-33 lead. At 16:26, Bonnies forward Ashley Edwards buried two free-throws to regain a 37-36 edge. St. Bonaventure never looked back from this point on. The Bonnies grasped their biggest lead of the game at 4:26 mark when Edwards hit two free throws to go up 22. The Bonnies outscored the Saints 49-27 in the second half connecting on 25 of 29 free-throw attempts.
Menty shot 4 for 9 from the field and registered 12 points. Sophomore Shondaya Burrell (Albany, N.Y./Colonie), Dooley and Manzer also scored in double-figures for the Saints. Alpe-Luka (Liepaja, Latvia/Liepaja No. 5) was a spark for the Saints off the bench contributing a career high five points.
The Saints return to action Wednesday for their home opener versus UAlbany in the TIAA-CREF Albany Cup. Tip off is slated for 7 p.m. at the Pepsi Arena. Siena looks to earn their fifth straight Albany Cup. Last season, the Saints topped the Great Danes 61-55 in their annual meeting.
