HASKELL TAKES OVER IN SECOND HALF AS BONNIES WBB BEAT CANISIUS
St. Bonaventure Women’s Basketball erased a 12-point halftime deficit to spoil the Canisius Golden Griffins home opener, winning 66-63 last night.
Former Griff Dani Haskell was lights out in the second half, scoring 20 of her 29 points after the Bonnies went to the locker room in the largest hole of the night. In the first half, however, Haskell was unselfish, seemingly waiting for her opportunities to strike later on. In the meantime, the drive-and-kick out offensive scheme for Bona worked for the most part, but they shot just 30% from the field in the first half. Canisius took advantage of the Bonnies’ misses and pounded the ball inside to a plethora of their forwards, scoring 20 points in the paint before halftime.
The Griffs were up 36-24 at the break, but then, while the Bonnies started converting in the third quarter, Canisius abandoned the post play and took a handful of ‘irresponsible threes.’ That allowed the Bonnies to crawl back and eventually take the lead in just eight minutes. Canisius finally went back to the well, getting their forwards Shariah Gailes, Yasmine Djibril , and Sara Carvajal Caro involved, going shot-for-shot with St. Bonaventure, keeping it close to enter the final frame. That forward trio would combine for 21 points on the night.
Once the fourth quarter began, it was the Dani Haskell show, as she scored the final 10 Bonnies points, giving the Brown and White a three point lead. With ten seconds left in the game, Haskell was blocked in the lane, and Canisius took possession with one shot to try and force overtime. At the buzzer, the right wing three from Griffs’ junior Mariam Sanogo went around the rim and out.
With the win, St. Bonaventure balances their record, now at 2-2, and head home to Olean to host Colgate on Saturday. Canisius drops their record to 1-3 to open the season, and host their Big Four rivals, the Buffalo Bulls on Friday night at 6PM.
SABRES HEAD OUT WEST, TAKE ON LOS ANGELES TONIGHT
The Buffalo Sabres hope for good news on the injury front as they begin a three-game, California road trip tonight in Los Angeles.
Ever since the third period of the Sabres’ 7-5 loss to Montreal on November 11th, Buffalo has played without three key pieces: their first line centerman Tage Thompson, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, and their starting goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. The collapse that period leading to the loss vs Montreal, plus their weak showing in a 5-2 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday negates their overtime win over St. Louis, which sandwiched the two losses. In Philly, Jordan Greenway was out of the lineup for Buffalo, adding to the injury list. As the Sabres head out west, they’ve made some roster moves, and hope for some better news as the day progresses.
First of all, Buffalo claimed goalie James Reimer off of waivers on Monday, helping shore up the position with the least amount of depth in the organization. Reimer was initially signed by the Sabres this offseason, but when Devon Levi earned the backup job out of training camp, Reimer was sent to through waivers with the hope of clearing and going to Rochester, but he was instead claimed by the Anaheim Ducks. As the Ducks got healthier, Reimer was sent back on the waiver wire, just as Buffalo was most desperate for a goaltender. Since then, Luukkonen has returned to the team, allowing the Sabres to send Levi down to the AHL to get more games played, something Coach Ruff noted was most important for Levi at this early stage of his career.
On defense, Samuelsson was placed on injured reserve, listed as week-to-week, in what is developing into a sad truth for the 24-year-old blueliner. Samuelsson has missed big chunks of games over the last couple seasons. Last year, he missed forty-one games due to injury, just after Buffalo signed the former second-round draft pick to a seven-year contract. In the last week, Dennis Gilbert has been in the lineup in Samuelsson’s place, where he’s been consistent, playing to an even plus minus while throwing a handful of hits.
Finally, up front, Buffalo called up Jiri Kulich from Rochester for the game in Philadelphia to replace the banged up Greenway. Kulich saw nearly 13 minutes of ice time in the loss, recording two shots on goal. Ahead of this upcoming road trip, Isak Rosen has been recalled from the Amerks in case Thompson is unable to go tonight in LA. With a team-best 13 points in 14 games with Rochester this season, Rosen has earned this opportunity, should any Sabre forward be unavailable for this three game swing. Last season, Rosen appeared in seven games with the Sabres, and has yet to record his first NHL point.
Going back to last week Thursday’s overtime victory over St. Louis, Coach Lindy Ruff mentioned to the team post game their emphasis on not losing two games in a row. Buffalo takes on the LA Kings tonight with that same goal in mind. The Sabres lost to the Kings 2-1 back in October, in Buffalo’s home opener. Puck drop from Los Angeles is set for 10:30 pm Eastern tonight.
WEDNESDAY WHIP-AROUND: WNY COLLEGE HOOPS
A new segment where we briefly check in with WNY’s college basketball programs and see what results you may have missed in the last week. This is the ‘Wednesday Whip-Around.’
DIVISION I
Buffalo Bulls MBB: 2-3, currently on a three game losing skid with losses to Notre Dame, Bryant, and last night at Vermont. The Bulls host Morgan State and North Carolina A&T in the coming week.
Buffalo Bulls WBB: 4-0 to open the season, coming off a 20-point win over Division II Cedarville on Monday. UB takes on the Big Four in the next week, at Canisius and Niagara before hosting St. Bonaventure.
St. Bonaventure Bonnies MBB: 4-0, with wins over Canisius, Florida Gulf Coast, and most recently Le Moyne. The Bonnies host DII Mansfield tonight at 7PM, before welcoming Bryant to Olean on Sunday afternoon.
St. Bonaventure Bonnies WBB: 2-2, after the afore-mentioned three-point win over Canisius last night. Bona hosts Colgate and Loyola Maryland in the week ahead.
Canisius Golden Griffins MBB: 0-6, playing some tough competition to start the year. Losses at Top-10 ranked Arizona, and most recently, at Maryland last night. The Griffs host Brown University on Saturday.
Canisius Golden Griffins WBB: 1-3, picking up the first win of Tiffany Swoffard’s stint as Head Coach at Saint Francis (PA) last Friday. The Griffs host Buffalo and Binghamton in the coming week.
Niagara Purple Eagles MBB: 1-3, coming off an 8-point, non-league loss at Bowling Green last night. The Purps face another Mid American Conference opponent on Thursday, at Kent State.
Niagara Purple Eagles WBB: 0-4, with three losses to Power Four opponents, at Syracuse, Ranked West Virginia, and Penn State. Niagara hosts Cleveland State tomorrow night before taking on the UB Bulls next Tuesday.
DIVISION II
Daemen Wildcats MBB: 3-0, and that doesn’t include their exhibition win over the UB Bulls in late October. The Wildcats most recent win was over DII’s 11th ranked Charleston. Daemen takes on two more teams receiving votes in the national poll within the next week, at Post on Saturday and at home against California (PA) next Tuesday.
Daemen Wildcats WBB: 1-3, but have shown gradual improvement since their first exhibition. After taking ranked Assumption University to double-overtime, and falling to ranked Gannon, the Wildcats picked up their first win of the year, handley beating Saint Michael’s. Daemen heads to Chestnut Hill tomorrow, before hosting Saint Anselm on Sunday.
D’Youville Saints MBB: 2-3, coming off their first win at home this year, beating Pitt-Johnstown by four points earlier this week. The Saints host Lake Erie College on Sunday at the Saints Center Gym.
D’Youville Saints WBB: 1-2, picking up a win over former-ECC member Bridgeport. The Saints are at Lake Erie in Cleveland tomorrow before returning home to host Saint Anselm Saturday afternoon.
DIVISION III
Buffalo State Bengals MBB: 1-2, Heading to the Hobart Tournament this weekend
Buffalo State Bengals WBB: 1-1, Hosting Penn State Behrend tonight at 5:30
Fredonia State Blue Devils MBB: 0-2, At Hartwick tonight, hosting Pitt-Bradford Friday at 7
Fredonia State Blue Devils WBB: 3-0, Are at Alfred U tonight facing the unbeaten Saxons
Hilbert Hawks MBB: 3-1, At Houghton tonight, then host Elmira on Saturday
Hilbert Hawks WBB: 0-4, Also at Houghton this evening, then at Keuka College on Friday
JUCO
SUNY Niagara Thunderwolves MBB: 8-0; WBB: 7-0
ECC Kats MBB: 0-7, WBB: 2-4
JCC Jayhawks MBB: 1-7; WBB 4-2
USCAA
Villa Maria Vikings MBB: 6-0; WBB: 0-4
Bryant & Stratton (Buffalo) MBB: 4-1; WBB: 2-2
