With conference play now a couple of weeks underway in the Atlantic 10 women’s basketball conference, St. Bonaventure appears to be emerging as a dominant force. The Bonnies have started off the season with an 18-2 record, and begun conference play with a perfect 5-0 record.

St. Bonaventure (18-2, 5-0 Atlantic 10) started off conference play with a 61-53 win over Duquesne on Jan. 7, and since then has defeated Temple, Saint Louis, Richmond and Charlotte.  The Charlotte matchup was the premiere game of A-10 play over winter break when the Bonnies and 49ers squared off as the only undefeated teams in the conference. Trailing 29-24 at halftime, St. Bonaventure was able to kick it up a notch in front of a hostile crowd, as senior guard Jessica Jenkins propelled them to a 68-63 victory with 23 points. Jenkins went 6-for-10 on 3-pointers, and broke the A-10 career record for 3-pointers in the game.

Charlotte (12-7, 4-1 A-10) had a superb start to its conference play as well, winning four straight games, including a 58-54 battle over Xavier in their conference opener.  The game went back and forth throughout, but the 49ers were able to prevail due to clutch free throw shooting, and steadfast defense at the other end. The win gave reason for the 49ers to celebrate, as they were able to halt the Musketeers’ 29-game A-10 regular-season winning streak.

For Xavier (3-14, 0-4 A-10), it was the beginning of a new streak – a four-game losing streak to start off conference play. After leading the A-10 last year with a perfect 14-0 regular-season record, the Musketeers rightfully owned the No. 5 overall ranking in the country by the end of the 2010-11 campaign. However this year, they have taken a significant step back, as they are currently second to last in the A-10.

Sitting at the bottom of the A-10, is dreadful Rhode Island (1-19, 0-5 A-10), who has been blown out more often than not this season. Beginning winter break against non-conference New Hampshire, Rhode Island was only able to score three points in the final fifteen minutes of play, losing 52-33. The closest the Rams have come to an in-conference victory was against Massachusetts in a 46-39 loss. Otherwise, they have lost three A-10 games by at least 20 points, including a 51-point loss to Dayton.

With the strong conference opener over the Rams, the Flyers have been highly successful, and are tied for second with Charlotte. The domination over Rhode Island was not a one-time thing for Dayton, as it also handily defeated Saint Joseph’s 65-51, UMass 80-55, and Fordham 62-37. The one conference loss for the Flyers came at the hands of Temple, in a 61-57 defeat that could have gone either way.

Dayton and Charlotte sit one game behind the surging Bonnies, while Saint Joseph’s and Temple are one and a half games back with 3-1 records. Richmond and La Salle are each 3-2, while Duquesne is the only .500 team as it trails St. Bonaventure by two and a half games. Three games back is George Washington with a 2-3 record, and UMass is continuing to struggle at 1-3 and three and a half games back. Fordham at 1-4, and Saint Louis at 1-3, have not played well of late.Xavier and Rhode Island are currently at the bottom of the A-10 with zero wins and four and five losses, respectively.

Taylor Snow can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Snow.