HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Holy Cross women's basketball team became the first Division I program to 15 wins in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts following a 59-49 victory Wednesday morning at Patriot League foe Colgate.
The Crusaders (15-3, 7-0 PL) trailed by eight early in the first quarter and fought back to lead at halftime and to hold a nine point margin going into the fourth quarter. Junior
Bronagh Power-Cassidy led the way with a game-high 19 points and a contest best three blocks shooting 7-of-9 (77.8%) from the floor. Sophomore
Lindsay Berger tallied her third career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds while junior
Cara McCormack notched 10 markers and a season-high six rebounds.
Only one player reached double-figures for Colgate (10-8, 4-3 PL) as Taylor Golembiewski dropped 11 points. Morgan McMahon, who scored 24 points in 31 minutes off the bench the last time out, recorded four points and a game-worst -17 when she was on the floor.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Colgate began the game hitting six of their first eight shots (75%) including an Alexa Brodie and1 with the freebie to lead 14-8 with 4:36 left in the first. McMahon drew a shooting foul to push the Raider lead to 16-8. The Crusaders got mid-range jumpers by sophomore Callie Wright and McCormack to cut into the deficit as they trailed 16-12 through one.
- The Crusader burst reached seven straight points as Power-Cassidy delivered a bounce pass from the elbow to freshman Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly for the up and under hoop as they pulled within one, 16-15. The run capped at 11-2 when Power-Cassidy hit one of two at the line to give the Crusaders the lead 19-18. A Berger free throw coupled with a Power-Cassidy drive through traffic gave the Crusaders a four point, 27-23 advantage at the intermission.
- The Raiders out produced the Crusaders 6-5 to the media timeout to pull within three, 32-29. Power-Cassidy went to work drilling a corner three and driving to the rack with 37 seconds to expand the margin to 44-35 through three quarters.
- Golembiewski began the fourth canning a triple to bring the margin to 44-38. A freshman Kaitlyn Flanagan drive and deuce reestablished the eight point lead at the 5:07 mark. Lara Cook stirred the pot connecting on a trey to make it a two possession game, 52-47 with 3:19 left. Power-Cassidy silenced the crowd with 39 seconds to go.
OUTSIDE THE BOX:
- After the hot start in the first quarter (6-of-8, 75%), Colgate shot only 3-of-23 (13.0%) the rest of the first half. They finished at 31.7% for the game.
- Cara McCormack (5'3) recorded her fourth career block. She is the second shortest player in the NCAA (Regina Walton, 5'3, Elon), (Nevaeh Tot, 5'2, Oklahoma) to record a block this season.
- This is the fifth time this season the Crusaders have trailed by seven or more points and have come back to win. (vs. Lehigh, vs. Conn. College, vs. Stonehill, at Colgate, at Massachusetts-Lowell).
- Holy Cross has started 7-0 in Patriot League action for the fourth time in program history.
- The Crusaders have won seven straight games for the 18th time in team history.
POSTGAME THOUGHTS:
UP NEXT:
- Holy Cross returns home to the Hart Center Arena to face Bucknell on Saturday, Jan. 21.
- Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
- Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2022-23 campaign are now on sale through the Holy Cross Ticket Office.
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS
Be sure to follow the Holy Cross women's basketball team — and all things Crusader Athletics — on social media!
Twitter - @HCrossWBB | @goholycross
Instagram - @hcrosswbb | @goholycross
Facebook - Holy Cross Women's Basketball | Holy Cross Athletics
YouTube - GoHolyCross
