THE BASICS:

• Score: Holy Cross 57, Lafayette 54
• Records: HC (10-13, 7-5); LAF (5-17, 3-9)
• Location: Easton, Pa.
• Arena: Kirby Sports Center (344)
• The Lead: Holy Cross sophomore guard Katie Doherty (Holbrook, N.Y.) tied a career-high with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting to help lead the Crusaders to a 57-54 victory over Lafayette in Patriot League women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at the Kirby Sports Center.

TURNING POINT:

• Lafayette held a 29-23 lead with 7:09 left in the third quarter, but the Crusaders erupted on a 17-2 surge to take a 40-31 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. Doherty had five points during the third-quarter rally.
• The Leopards would not regain the lead or tie the score for the remainder of the contest.

HOLY CROSS HIGHLIGHTS:

• In addition to Doherty who also hauled in five rebounds, sophomore guard Tricia Byrne (Dunmore, Pa.) tallied 12 points, four rebounds and a trio of steals.
• Senior center Molly Hourigan (Memphis, N.Y.) filled the stat sheet with nine points, a team-high eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks, while classmate Kate Gillespie (Washington, D.C.) scored six points.  

FIRST HALF:

• Lafayette gained an early 5-4 lead at the 6:04-mark of the first quarter, but a 5-0 spurt by Holy Cross capped off by a Doherty old-fashioned three-point play gave the Crusaders a 9-5 edge (4:57).
• The Crusaders scored five straight to complete a 10-0 rally and gained a 14-5 advantage (1:05), but a pair of three-pointers by Lafayette to close the stanza sliced the deficit to 14-11 after one quarter of play.
• The Leopards continued their run with five straight points to begin the second quarter and take a 16-14 lead (8:16). Both teams scored six points apiece the rest of the way, as Lafayette held a 22-20 edge at intermission.
• Neither squad shot the ball well in the opening half, as Holy Cross only connected on 25.0 percent of its shots (7-28) and Lafayette hit 20.0 percent from the floor (5-25).

SECOND HALF:

• The Leopards went up by six points (29-23) just over two minutes into the second half, but the Crusaders began their third-quarter surge.
• Doherty began the run with a three-pointer to slice the margin to three (29-26) with 6:42 on the clock, as the Crusaders gained a 32-29 edge on a trey by Byrne (3:03).
• A layup by freshman forward Maggie Locke (Collegeville, Pa.) and an old-fashioned three-pointer by Hourigan gave Holy Cross a 37-29 lead, but Jamie O'Hare ended the 14-0 run with a jumper with 40 seconds on the clock to make the score, 37-31.
• Gillespie, however, drilled a three-pointer from the corner with nine seconds left to give Holy Cross a 40-31 after three quarters of play.
• Byrne gave Holy Cross its largest lead of the contest (42-31) with a layup off a steal to begin the fourth period.
• The Leopards, however, scored eight quick points to slice the deficit to three (42-39) with 5:45 on the clock.
• Holy Cross outscored Lafayette, 7-3, over the next 2:21 to go up by seven (49-42), but an 8-1 rally by the Leopards cut the margin to one point (51-50) with 45 seconds left in regulation.
• On the next possession, senior guard Lisa Mifsud (Erie, Pa.) hit a clutch three-pointer to put the visitors up by four (54-50), with 24 seconds left. Lafayette made it a one-point game (55-54) 13 seconds later, but two big free throws by Byrne put Holy Cross up by three (57-54).
• Lafayette had two chances to tie the game on a pair of three-point attempts, but both failed and Holy Cross held on for the 57-54 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Holy Cross shot 34.5 percent from the field (20-58) and canned 5-of-20 from behind the arc (25.0%), while Lafayette drained 16-of-50 from the floor (32.0%) and hit 37.5 percent of its shots from downtown (6-16).
• The Crusaders connected on 12-of-23 from the charity stripe (52.2%), while the Leopards converted 88.9 percent of their shots from the free-throw line (16-18).
• Holy Cross held the statistical edge in steals (15-4), points in the paint (30-10), points off turnovers (20-10) and second-chance points (13-8). Lafayette held the 47-33 advantage in total rebounds.
• The Leopards were led by O'Hare, who posted a game-high 22 points, five rebounds and five assists. Ashley Lutz posted 13 points and eight rebounds.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Doherty crossed the 400-point milestone in the contest and now has 403 points in her career.
• With the win, Holy Cross has now won 13 straight games against Lafayette and leads the all-time series, 55-8.
• Locke scored a career-high four points.
• Thomas-Waheed (5) and Hourigan (4) tied career-highs in steals.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 13, when it hosts Lehigh at 1:05 p.m. Saturday's contest will be the Crusaders' “Purple Goes Pink” game in support of the Kay Yow Foundation.

BE PART OF THE ACTION:

• To purchase single-game tickets for the 2015-2016 Holy Cross women's basketball season, visit GoHolyCross.com/Tickets or call the ticket office at 1-844-GOCROSS.

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