WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross women's basketball team posted its third straight win with a dominating 77-48 victory over Colgate on Saturday, Jan. 16.
Five Crusaders reached double figures, with junior guard
Avery LaBarbera leading the way with 14 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Freshman forward
Janelle Allen had a career-high 14 points and was 5-for-5 from the field, while junior forward
Oluchi Ezemma also chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds for Holy Cross (3-2). Freshman guard
Bronagh Power-Cassidy had 13 points and freshman guard
Cara McCormack scored 11.
Katlyn Ghavidel led the way for Colgate (1-4) with a game-high 18 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After a low-scoring start, Colgate had an 8-5 edge with 4:04 to go in the first. LaBarbera hit back-to-back threes to put Holy Cross ahead, 11-8. Leading 16-13 with 1:19 left, a 3-pointer from McCormack and a layup from Allen gave Holy Cross a 21-13 advantage.
- The Crusaders extended an 11-0 run into the second quarter to take a 27-13 lead with 8:29 to go in the half, capped by a great pass from LaBarbera to junior guard Kelly Petro, who made a fastbreak layup.
- Colgate was able to close the margin to 11 points after a layup, but the Crusaders continued to push, building their first-half lead as high as 18 after Allen hit a layup to make it 40-22 with 3:24 left in the half.
- Ezemma scored six unanswered points to open the second half and push Holy Cross' lead to 21, 50-29, with 7:51 remaining in the third. After a basket from Colgate, Ezemma hit another jumper to make it a 52-31 game. Power-Cassidy had a layup, and then McCormack and Power-Cassidy hit back-to-back 3s to extend the lead to 60-31 with 5:25 to go in the third.
- Colgate trailed 60-36 with 3:14 left in the third, but Allen had seven unanswered points on her own to bring the lead to 31, the Crusaders' highest lead in the contest.
- Holy Cross outscored Colgate 24-10 in the third quarter; the Raiders could cut no closer than within 24 points during the fourth.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- LaBarbera's five steals matched her career high and were her most in a game since also recording five against Brown on Nov. 18, 2018.
- This is the second time this season Holy Cross has had five players reach double figures in one game.
- The Crusaders forced 21 Colgate turnovers, marking the third straight game in which Holy Cross has forced 20 or more turnovers.
- This is also the third straight game in which Holy Cross has held its opponent under 50 points.
UP NEXT:
- The Crusaders close out the weekend series on Sunday, Jan. 17 at the Hart Center.
- Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
