THE BASICS:

• Score: Holy Cross 74, Boston University 50
• Records: HC (13-15, 10-7); BU (3-25, 3-14)
• Location: Worcester, Mass.
• Arena: Hart Center (1,385)
• The Lead: Holy Cross senior guard Lisa Mifsud (Erie, Pa.) earned Turnpike Trophy Most Valuable Player honors, as she totaled a game-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting to help lead the Crusaders to a 74-50 triumph over rival Boston University in Patriot League women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center.

TURNING POINT:

• Holy Cross grabbed an early 16-5 lead over the first 5:33 and never looked back.
• Boston University got as close as six points in the first half, but after the Crusaders gained a 10-point, 37-27 lead at intermission, they led by double-digits for the remainder of the contest.

INDIVIDUAL HIGHLIGHTS:

• In addition to Mifsud for Holy Cross, sophomore guard Katie Doherty (Holbrook, N.Y.) scored a career-high 17 points with four three-pointers on the afternoon, while also dishing out four assists.
• Senior guard Kate Gillespie (Washington, D.C.) tallied a season-high 14 points – including a 4-of-7 clip from behind the arc – while sophomore guard Infiniti Thomas-Waheed (Newton, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with seven points, six rebounds, five assists and a career-high six steals.
• Senior center Molly Hourigan (Memphis, N.Y.) just missed a double-double, as she recorded nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.
• Boston University was led by Meghan Doogan, who scored 19 points. Corrine Williams also had a good game for the Terriers, as she totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.  

FIRST HALF:

• After Boston University scored the game's opening bucket, the Crusaders embarked on a 16-3 surge to gain a 16-5 lead with 4:27 left in the first quarter. Mifsud scored the final 10 points for Holy Cross during that run, including a pair of three-pointers.
• The Terriers scored five quick points to trim the margin to six (16-10), but a 6-0 run by Holy Cross – capped off with a Gillespie trey with three ticks on the clock – gave the Crusaders a 22-10 lead after one quarter of play.
• Holy Cross went ahead by 15 points (30-15) midway through the second stanza, but a 7-0 spurt by Boston University cut the deficit to eight (30-22) with 2:37 on the clock.
• After the teams traded scores, Gillespie canned another trey to put Holy Cross up by 11 (35-24) with 1:36 left in the first half.
• Doogan drilled a triple to make it an eight-point game (35-47) with 47 seconds left, but a jumper by Gillespie with 22 ticks on the clock gave Holy Cross a 37-27 halftime lead.

SECOND HALF:

• Holy Cross slowly increased its advantage throughout the third quarter and outscored the Terriers 17-8 during the period to gain a 54-35 lead entering the fourth.
• The Crusaders went ahead by 20 (55-35) early in the fourth quarter, but Boston University used an 11-2 rally to slice the margin to 57-46 with 5:38 on the clock.
• After a Holy Cross timeout, the Crusaders scored nine straight points – five coming from Doherty – to go back up by 20 (66-46) with 3:28 left in regulation.
• Boston University got as close as 19 points over the waning minutes, as Holy Cross would eventually claim a 74-50 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Holy Cross shot 45.9 percent from the field (28-61) and canned 10-of-28 from behind the arc (35.7%), while Boston University hit 42.5 percent of its shots (17-40) and sank 5-of-14 from downtown (35.7%).
• The Crusaders held the statistical edge in total rebounds (33-31), assists (18-15), steals (9-4), points in the paint (32-16) and fast-break points (15-7).
• Holy Cross also scored 19 points off 17 Boston University miscues, while the Terriers scored only four points off five Crusader turnovers.

THE TURNPIKE TROPHY:

• The win for Holy Cross in women's basketball gives the Crusaders their third point in the Turnpike Trophy rivalry series, as Boston University now leads the overall series, 10-3. The women's basketball team has earned two of the three points by Holy Cross this season.
• Mifsud was named the game's most valuable player.
• This athletic series between the in-state Patriot League rivals awards points for all head-to-head victories in both the regular season and postseason, with the Turnpike Trophy going to the school that accumulates the most points at the end of the academic year.

SENIOR DAY:

• Before the game, Gillespie, Mifsud, Hourigan and fellow classmate Raquel Scott (Ridgewood, N.J.) were honored on “Senior Day” for their commitment to the women's basketball program over the past four seasons.

NEWS & NOTES:

• Holy Cross has now won four straight against Boston University and is 14-3 all-time against the Terriers.
• The Crusaders won their 10th Patriot League game of the season marking the third consecutive campaign that Holy Cross has earned 10 or more conference victories.
• Holy Cross is now 9-5 at the Hart Center this season and 6-3 in home Patriot League games.
• The Crusaders' five committed turnovers were a season-low.
• Doherty set a career-high with 17 points, while Thomas-Waheed set a new personal-best with six steals. Mifsud tied a season-high with 21 points.
• Mifsud also moved into 25th place on the Holy Cross all-time scoring list, as she has 1,087 career points.  

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross wraps up the 2015-2016 regular season on Wednesday, March 2, when it travels to Baltimore, Md. to take on Loyola at 7:00 p.m.

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.