BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Holy Cross women's basketball team eight game winning streak came to an end as Patriot League opponent Lehigh needed overtime for a 76-74 victory Wednesday evening in Stabler Arena.
Holy Cross (16-4, 8-1 PL) led by six with 1:44 to go. Lehigh (10-10, 6-3 PL) got a Frannie Hottinger mid-range jumper and a Mackenzie Kramer transition three to pull within one, 68-67. Holy Cross was fouled under the hoop and they missed two free throws keeping it a one point game with 32.1 seconds left. Kramer missed both her shot attempts and the Crusaders went back to the stripe and drained one of two at the line. Kramer sent the game to overtime as Holy Cross missed a buzzer bearer in the lane.
In overtime, the Mountain Hawks held the 73-69 lead with 2:24 to go. A junior
Bronagh Power-Cassidy three-ball moved the Crusaders ahead 74-73 with under 1:30 to play. Holy Cross needed a stop, but Kramer sank a three on the right wing for the lead they would not relinquish.
Hottinger had a double-double scoring 30 points with 11 rebounds. 19 of her 30 markers came in the second half and overtime. She also had a career-high nine turnovers in the contest. Kramer scored 21 points hitting 5-of-7 (71.4%) from deep.
For Holy Cross, Power-Cassidy scored a team-best 18 markers. Sophomore
Lindsay Berger double-doubled for the third straight game with 17 points and a game-best 12 boards. Freshman
Kaitlyn Flanagan had a personal-high 14 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Crusaders started the game 1-of-7 (14.3%) from the floor as the Mountain Hawks had an 8-2 lead at the first media timeout as Hottinger drained a mid-range jumper. A Hottinger corner three-ball put the Mountain Hawks ahead 11-4 with 3:50 left in the first. Holy Cross outscored Lehigh 10-4 over the remaining minutes with sophomore Callie Wright converting a second chance bucket to make it 15-14 after one.
- Holy Cross took their first lead 16-15 when Flanagan strolled through the paint and absorbed contact for two. Flanagan stopped and popped from the left elbow to give the Crusaders the two possession lead 22-18. Lehigh regained the edge at 27-25 with 35 seconds to go, however Power-Cassidy crashed the offensive glass for a second chance put back to tie the game at the intermission.
- Steals by senior Addisyn Cross and Power-Cassidy resulted in three Holy Cross points via Berger to take a 30-27 edge early in the third. Cross then followed a junior Cara McCormack missed triple for the reverse layup to increase the Crusader lead to five, 35-30. McCormack knocked down a catch and shoot three on the left wing for the 38-30 Crusader lead. Hottinger produced the next five points for the hosts to immediately drop the margin to three, 38-35. A Power-Cassidy step back jumper regained the seven point Holy Cross advantage at 42-35. Hottinger dumped in a basket from point blank range to put her team down 49-45 after three quarters.
- Hottinger drained a three to move her team ahead 53-51 with 7:28 left in the contest. The teams traded points and Kramer drilled a trifecta to push the Mountain Hawks in front 58-55. Power-Cassidy drove through traffic at the 3:28 mark to regain the edge to the guest side at 61-60. From the 3:28 mark the Crusaders looked like they were going to pull away, Berger knocked down a jumper from the right block and on the next possession, Flanagan picked off a pass and went all the way for two. Cross then hit a corner three for the 68-62 margin with 1:44 to go.
OUTSIDE THE BOX:
- Lehigh shot 2-of-9 (22.2%) from deep in the first half but 10-of-15 (66.7%) in the second half and overtime.
- Holy Cross has started the year 16-4 through 20 games for the second time in program history. The feat last happened during the 1984-85 season.
- The Crusaders combined to shoot 9-of-19 (47.3%) from the free throw line in both contests versus Lehigh.
- Holy Cross last loss in overtime was three years ago to the date (Jan. 25, 2020) at Boston University (70-76).
POSTGAME THOUGHTS:
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