VILLANOVA, Pa. – The Holy Cross women's basketball team battled with nonconference and BIG EAST opponent Villanova, but fell by a 63-53 score on Tuesday evening in the Finneran Pavilion.
The loss sends the Crusaders to 2-3 on the young season while the Wildcats improve to 3-1.
Senior
Bronagh Power-Cassidy scored a game-high 14 points on 50 percent shooting (6-for-12) to go with six rebounds. Sophomore
Kaitlyn Flanagan chipped in nine points, two assists and two steals. In 30 minutes off the bench, junior
Lindsay Berger scored eight points and tallied a team-best eight rebounds.
For Villanova, Bella Runyan double-doubled with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Lucy Olsen who was fresh off a 40 point performance on Sunday scored only 14 points in 39 minutes of action.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Senior Cara McCormack notched the first points for the Crusaders off a baseline out of bounds play to make it 4-2 early in favor of the Wildcats. Olsen continued her strong start canning a soft touch mid-range jumper to expand the Nova margin to 8-2. A senior Janelle Allen freebie and a Flanagan drive from the corner cut into the deficit at 8-5. The hosts canned three straight threes and the Crusaders kept matching as they still trailed by three, 17-14 following a Berger bucket. The hosts scored the final nine points of the quarter to lead 26-14 through one.
- The Villanova run reached 14-0 as a three-pointer upped the advantage to 31-14 with 6:35 left before the intermission. The Crusaders responded with a 13-3 scoring burst of their own to come within seven at the end of the half. Seven straight points for Holy Cross were scored over the final 1:09 with Power-Cassidy drilling a step back triple and Flanagan dumping in a driving layup with two seconds left for the 34-27 halftime score.
- Berger brought the deficit to two possessions, 42-37 using a nifty post move with 4:17 left in the third. Back-to-back Villanova three-pointers regained the double-digit advantage at 48-37. Sophomore Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly drained a three before Villanova buried a corner three-pointer at the buzzer to lead 53-42 through 30 minutes.
- Villanova brought their lead back to 14, 60-46 via a mid-range elbow jumper with 5:03 left. Holy Cross came only within 10 in the final quarter.
OUTSIDE THE BOX:
- Villanova shot 66.7 percent (10-for-15) in the first quarter but only 18.8 percent (3-of-16) in the second period.
- Olsen scored nine points in the opening stanza and scored only four the rest of the way.
- Holy Cross scored more points in the paint (24) than Villanova (20).
- Power-Cassidy needs 45 more points for 1,000 in her career.
- Head coach Maureen Magarity needs one more win for 200 in her career.
POSTGAME THOUGHTS:
UP NEXT:
- Holy Cross is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at Stonehill with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.
- Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2023-24 campaign are now on sale through the Holy Cross Ticket Office.
FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS
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