BOSTON – The Holy Cross women's basketball team fell to Boston University, 76-54, in the teams' season opener on Monday, Jan. 4.
Eight different Crusaders recorded points, led by junior guard
Avery LaBarbera, who had 15 points, along with four assists and four steals. Freshman guard
Cara McCormack scored 11 points in her collegiate debut; junior guard
Kelly Petro had a career-high eight points and freshman
Bronagh Power-Cassidy also chipped in eight points.
For the Terriers, Sydney Johnson had 18 points while Katie Nelson recorded 17. Emily Esposito and Maren Durant were also in double figures, with 10 points apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- With BU leading early by a 4-0 margin, Petro sunk a 3-pointer to cut the Terriers' lead to one point. LaBarbera followed with a 3-pointer of her own to give the Crusaders the 6-4 advantage with 3:22 to go in the first quarter. Though BU tied the game, an and-one by freshman Janelle Allen gave the Crusaders a 9-6 lead.
- BU eventually took a 12-11 lead off a pair of free throws from Nelson, but McCormack sunk a layup with three seconds left in the first to give Holy Cross a 13-12 lead headed into the second quarter.
- The Terriers went ahead 19-15 early in the second quarter before LaBarbera had another three to cut within 19-18. From there, BU went on a 9-0 run before a layup from Petro put a brief pause to the Terriers' momentum. Nelson and Ezemma traded layups for BU and Holy Cross to make the score 30-22 in favor of BU; the Terriers then extended their lead to 35-22 with 1:51 left in the half.
- Another three by LaBarbera and two free throws from Power-Cassidy brought the Crusaders' deficit to 35-27 at the half.
- BU opened the second half on an 18-2 run to go up by 24 points, 53-29, with 4:10 left in the third quarter. The Crusaders followed with a 10-0 run to cut within 14 points, with back-to-back threes from Petro and McCormack and two free throws and a layup from LaBarbera.
- Holy Cross cut within 10 points early in the fourth off a layup from McCormack that made it a 55-45 game. However, the Terriers' lead grew to 19 points with 4:36 to go.
- Sophomore Kerry Flaherty sank a 3-pointer with 3:50 left to make the score 70-54, but BU had with six unanswered points to close out the victory.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Holy Cross was perfect from the foul line, sinking nine of its nine free throw attempts; this is the first time Holy Cross has been perfect from the line as a team since going 12-for-12 against Bucknell on Feb. 4, 2017.
- Petro, Power-Cassidy, sophomore Addisyn Cross and junior Oluchi Ezemma earned their first career starts.
- Petro's eight points bested her previous career high of five.
UP NEXT:
- Holy Cross will host BU in a rematch on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
- Tipoff at the Hart Center is set for 2 p.m.
