BOSTON – The Holy Cross women's basketball team earned a hard-fought victory at Boston University, taking a back-and-forth battle by a score of 60-52 on Sunday, Feb. 21 to close out the regular season.
Junior
Avery LaBarbera had a dominant performance, scoring a season-high 26 points – including 19 second-half points – and also recording seven rebounds and four steals. Freshman
Cara McCormack had eight points, seven rebounds and three steals, and freshman
Bronagh Power-Cassidy scored eight points and five rebounds to lead Holy Cross (7-7, 7-7 Patriot League).
Emily Esposito and Sydney Johnson had 12 points each for BU (10-2, 10-2 Patriot League), while Maren Durant had nine points and 11 rebounds. Katie Nelson also finished in double figures with 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Holy Cross jumped ahead early – leading 11-7 with 3:50 to go in the first, a 7-0 run in the first quarter gave the Crusaders an 11-point lead, capped by a 3-pointer from sophomore Addisyn Cross.
- The Crusaders led by as much as 13, 20-7, after Power-Cassidy made a pair of free throws with 1:28 left in the first.
- Maggie Pina had a three just a few seconds later to bring BU within 20-10 headed into the second quarter. That led off a 14-2 run for the Terriers, bringing them ahead 24-22 after a layup from Johnson. After Holy Cross and BU traded baskets and the score was even at 26-26, the Terriers scored the final four points of the half to lead 30-26.
- That BU lead extended to eight after back-to-back Terrier layups, but the Crusaders used a 7-2 run – with all seven Holy Cross points coming from LaBarbera – to cut within 36-33.
- With BU leading 40-36, LaBarbera hit a 3-pointer, and then made a fastbreak layup to put the Crusaders back ahead, 41-40.
- The Terriers held a four-point advantage with 9:33 left in the fourth; the teams went back and forth for the entire frame. With Holy Cross trailing by a point, LaBarbera had a steal and notched a 3-pointer to put the Crusaders up 52-50 with 3:08 to go.
- Durant's layup evened the score at 52 points apiece with 2:00 left on the clock. Junior Oluchi Ezemma hit the go-ahead bucket with 1:31 remaining, and the Crusaders made all six of their free throw attempts down the stretch to secure the victory.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- LaBarbera's 26 points marked the second-highest scoring total in her career. Her career high for single-game scoring is 30, which she recorded as a freshman against Brown.
- BU snapped a five-game winning streak and fell at Case Gym for the first time in 10 games, a streak dating back to the 2019-20 season. This also marked the first time in 23 games that BU has not held an opponent under 60 points.
UP NEXT:
- Holy Cross' series originally scheduled against Army West Point on Feb. 27 and 28 has been canceled.
- The Patriot League Tournament is slated to get underway beginning with the quarterfinal round on March 7.