St. Bonaventure has made an in-season coaching change in its women’s basketball program.
Bona's athletic department announced Sunday afternoon that it has dismissed women's basketball coach Jesse Fleming after more than six seasons at the helm.
Erica Morrow, an assistant coach at St. Bonaventure, will take over as the Bonnies’ interim women’s basketball coach for the remainder of the season. Morrow is a former Syracuse women's basketball standout who is in her first season on the Bonnies' coaching staff.
"After an evaluation of our program, we have decided that now is the right time to make a change," Bona athletic director Joe Manhertz said in a release from the athletic department. "It is in the best interest of our program and our student-athletes to begin the transition process as we look to raise the level of Bonnies women's basketball. We will conduct a national search for the next leader of our program, beginning immediately.
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"We want to thank Coach Fleming for his efforts and service to St. Bonaventure, not only through his tenure as head coach, but also his time as an assistant, and his devotion to the program dating to his time as a student here. We're appreciative of his work for our student-athletes and wish him the best in his future endeavors."
Fleming has not immediately respond to a request by The Buffalo News for comment.
A source told The News that Fleming’s dismissal came Saturday night, after the Bonnies lost 73-39 at Davidson. It was Bona’s ninth loss in a row, and the Bonnies are 3-17 and 0-5 in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season.
In Fleming’s six-plus seasons as coach, the Bonnies have finished no higher than tied for 10th in the Atlantic 10, and didn’t have a winning season in that span. The Bonnies were 53-135 in Fleming’s seven seasons, including 25-77 in the Atlantic 10.
Fleming is a 2005 St. Bonaventure graduate who took over the program in May of 2016, and worked with Bona's women's team in various roles for 11 seasons. He also was an assistant coach at Bowling Green from 2012-16.
Morrow joined the Bonnies in June of 2022, after she was an assistant for two seasons at Syracuse, her alma mater. Morrow played for Syracuse from 200-711 and she is fifth in career scoring (1,650 points in 130 games) for the Orange.
She was on Syracuse's 2008 NCAA Tournament team, and earned a bachelor's degree in information systems and technology in 2011, and a master's degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse in 2013.
Morrow spent two seasons after she graduated as a graduate assistant manager with the Orange, and was Syracuse's director of basketball operations from January to May of 2013.
Morrow will make her head coaching debut for the Bonnies when they host Dayton at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Reilly Center in Allegany.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.