(Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series in which the Times Herald will unveil its “Mount Rushmore” of St. Bonaventure basketball … for the women’s program. Today: the four all-time Rushmore selections. Monday: the honorable mentions).

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — While the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has received a majority of the glory and headlines over the years, there’s no reason to downplay the success the Bonnies women’s basketball team has achieved.

It entered the Division I ranks in 1986-87 and reached two NCAA Tournaments (2012, ‘16; 3-2 record) and four postseason WNITs (2009, ‘10, ‘11, ‘14; 5-4 record). Most of the team’s success has come over the last 15 years, but there’s been a solid list of players from the past to don the Bonnies uniform.

Presenting the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball “Mount Rushmore,” in no particular order:

DANA MITCHELL (2006-10)

The only women’s player to have her number retired among the men’s greats, Mitchell was arguably one of the players who put the Bonnies in the national spotlight. Mitchell finished her Bonnies career second all-time in points scored with 2,011 to go with 706 rebounds (fourth all-time). The 6-foot-1 forward from Fairless Hills, Pa., was an All-Conference selection all four seasons and enjoyed postseason success in her last two years after taking a team that won just nine games prior to her arrival and transforming the Bonnies into back-to-back 23-win seasons by the time she graduated. Mitchell had 121 career double-digit efforts in 127 games played (119 starts).

Her teams never played in the NCAA Tournament (that would come a few years later), but Mitchell and company won three WNIT games and set the stage for future success. She’s etched firmly on the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball Mount Rushmore and in the Reilly Center’s rafters.

KATIE HEALY

(2012-16)

Healy came a few seasons after Mitchell, but kept up what was by then a standout women’s program, albeit with a pair of bumps along the way. Though her freshman season didn’t produce the results she wanted (10-19 record, averaging less than nine points), the rest of her Bonnies career was nothing short of fabulous.

Healy nearly doubled her points per game mark in her sophomore season (17 per game) while the Bonnies went from 10 to 24 wins and earned another trip to the WNIT. After another down season for the team (15-15 in 2014-15), Healy’s senior season will be remembered by Bonnies fans for years to come. She averaged 15 points and seven rebounds per game for the 24-8 Bonnies who reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In their tourney opener, Healy set a program NCAA Tournament record with 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting as the 10th-seeded Bonnies upset No. 7 seed Oklahoma State, 65-54.

The Lancaster, N.Y., native finished her Bonnies career fourth in scoring (1,708 points), third in rebounds (833) and first in blocks (155), including a season-best 52 in 2015-16. She was a three-time All-Conference selection.

If ever another women’s basketball jersey number is retired, Healy’s No. 42 is at the top of the list. Not only did she don that number during her illustrious career, but so did another player who helped set the foundation for the program: SBU Hall of Fame member and Atlantic 10 Legend Sue Shay.

JESSICA JENKINS (2008-12)

Perhaps the best pure shooter the school has ever seen, Jenkins spotted up from behind the three-point arc with regularity. During her four years she made an Atlantic 10 record 338 three-point baskets and shot nearly 40 percent from long range. She made 100 three-point baskets in a season twice and started all 101 of the team’s games from her sophomore year on.

The Marion, Ohio native played on St. Bonaventure’s first NCAA Tournament team in 2011-12 when she averaged 14 points per game on the Bonnies’ best-ever 31-4 campaign that culminated in the Sweet 16. Jenkins made six three-point baskets for 22 points in the Bonnies’ 66-63 win over Marist in the second round.

Jenkins finished her Bonnies career ninth all-time in points (1,441), meaning that roughly 70 percent of them came via the three-point basket. On Feb. 26, 2011 in the Reilly Center she made a team-record nine 3-pointers in a win over Charlotte. Each team Jenkins played for at St. Bonaventure finished with 21 or more wins and played in a postseason tournament. She also was an assistant coach on the Bonnies’ second NCAA Tournament team in 2015-16.

While the first three choices were rather easy, the fourth selection was a tough one. Two candidates stuck out, Shay (1989-93) and Hillary Waltman (1996-2000).

Both find themselves splattered all over the record books – Waltman is the program’s all-time leading scorer (2,106 points) and steals leader (317) whereas Shay is the team’s all-time leading rebounder (952). Neither enjoyed much team success but their individual accolades remain steadfast in the Bonnies’ record books. Both are St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 Legends as recognized by the conference. They are truly 4A and 4B, but, all things considered, the nod goes to Waltman.

HILARY WALTMAN (1995-99)

The program’s all-time leader in points, field goal percentage (54 percent), free throws made (588), free throws attempted (765) and steals. She was an all-rookie team selection her freshman year and was named All-Conference her remaining three years (First-Team as a junior and senior). Waltman averaged better than 20 points and five rebounds per game in her final two years and has 58 20-plus point games to her name, by far the best in program history (Shay is second with 35).

Waltman also scored 30-plus points five times in her career and had 75 or more steals in all four seasons. She scored 39 points in a win over Canisius in 1998 and led the Bonnies in scoring all four seasons. Waltman increased her points per game total from 15 as a freshman to 21 by her senior year. She still holds the program record with 606 points in a single season and also places sixth all-time in rebounds (669).