Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: AIDAN SHINNERS; STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team has some big holes to fill heading into the 2025-26 season, returning only two players from last year’s roster.
Last season’s leading scorer, Dani Haskell, graduated, leaving a void of 391 points for the new-look Bonnie’s offense to fill. Graduate guard Laycee Drake has stepped up to the plate and is looking to take on that scoring responsibility. Drake scored 16 points shooting 7-of-9 including, 50% from behind the arc in the Bonnies season opener against Mansfield University of Pennsylvania on Nov. 2. She did so in just 13 minutes, averaging more than a point per minute in the win.
In an exhibition bout on Oct. 29, against Daemen, Drake appeared in 19 minutes, shot 5-9, but 75% from the three-point line, scoring 13 points.
In the team’s exhibition matchup, graduate guard Aaliyah Parker showed her ability to be a versatile player and a threat all over the court, shooting 6-of-9 from the field with 19 points, also collecting five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Parker also tallied two blocks in the Bonnies season opener. This amount of versatility can help fill the gap after losing guards Zoe Shaw and Izabellah Middleton. Middleton graduated after a graduate season that was cut short due to injuries. Shaw, who is now a sophomore at University of California, Santa Barbara, averaged 11 points and four rebounds per game and led the team in assists last season.
The biggest issue from the Bonnies last season was their lack of rebounding. St. Bonaventure was outrebounded by an average of 10 per game. Forward Caitlin Frost, who led the team with 5.5 rebounds per game, transferred to Stony Brook University to continue her athletic career as a member of the Seawolves. In the season opener vs. Mansfield, Junior forward Kylie Buckley, a transfer from Oakland University in Michigan, recorded a team-high six rebounds in only nine minutes played. Buckley shot 50% from the field and the free throw line, scoring four points in her Bonaventure debut. As a team, the Bonnies outrebounded the Mountaineers 56-28. If given the opportunity, Buckley has the potential to turn this team’s rebounding struggles from last season around.
In the opener, the Bonnies utilized the entire roster, with minutes given to 14 different players as head coach Jim Crowley looks to fill the holes left by the many departures. Making the most of her opportunities off the bench was Binghamton transfer and junior guard Kaylee Krysztof, who recorded five rebounds and nine assists shooting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and notched a team-high two assists.
The rotation will continue to take shape as the Bonnies look to keep up their success and improve upon last season’s 6-24 record.
The Bonnies travel to Niagara University to take on their Little Three rival on Nov. 7. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m., and the game will air on ESPN+.
