Bonnies down Purple Eagles in Kids Day clash

In a Thursday matinee before grade 400 screaming school children, the women's basketball team opened up an early 14-5 lead over the Niagara Purple Eagles and held on for its fourth consecutive game to start the season.Megan Van Tatenhove led all scorers with a career-high 18 points, scoring 14 in the first half to help the Bonnies take a 40-23 lead into the break.

In the first half, the sophomore shot seven of 10 from the floor, as the team combined for 60.7 percent shooting.

Niagara's coach, Kendra Faustin, said Bonaventure's defense contributed more to her Purple Eagles' early deficit.

"It's team defense. They play really well together," she said. "They're not big, but they are strong and physical under the basket."

The Bonnies out-rebounded Niagara, 32-20. Tiara Johnson and Cara Gustafson pulled a combined 15 rebounds and added energy to a team playing its fourth game in six days.

Crowley said his team showed fatigue but refused to use the schedule as an excuse for Niagara's soring spurts in the second half.

"We had some tired legs, but I give a lot of credit to Niagara," Crowley said.

Liz Flooks and Jennifer McNamee led Niagara in scoring with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Faustin said the second her team showed promise with its play in the second half.
"In the second half, we played with (the Bonnies)," she said. "At times it looked like we were the better team, and they're a good basketball team."

In Faustin's opinion, the Purple Eagles let the Bonnies establish the tempo early.

"We were really tentative in the first half," she said.

Niagara responded in the second half, pulling to within 11 points with 9:54 remaining on a Flook 3-pointer, but the Bonnies held on.

Dana Mitchell scored eight of her 15 points in the final 10 minutes to survive Niagara's second-half rally.

For a promotional kids day, hundreds of local elementary school children screamed through the entire second half.

Crowley said the atmosphere did not affect his team's approach.

"The outside factors can't matter," he said. "It's about what we do and how we do things."

After completing their stretch of four games in six days, the Bonnies head to Lafayette to play the leopard Tuesday for a 6 p.m. tip off.