COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The No. 15 Holy Cross women's basketball team's season ended in the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament First Round as the Crusaders fell to No. 2 Maryland, 93-61, on Friday, March 17 at the XFINITY Center.
Maryland (26-6) will advance to the second round and take on Arizona (22-9) on Sunday, March 19. Holy Cross' (24-9) historic season comes to an end with the setback.
The Terps had five players reach double-figure points. Brinae Alexander scored a game-high 18 points on 6-of-10 (60%) shooting and 4-of-7 (57.1%) from range in 23 minutes off the bench. Associated Press second team All-American Diamond Miller dropped 13 points and recorded eight boards.
For Holy Cross, freshman
Simone Foreman produced a team-high 13 points with two steals, three rebounds and a 5-of-6 (83.3%) performance at the line. Classmate
Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly scored 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench, senior
Addisyn Cross added eight points, four rebounds and three assists while junior
Cara McCormack tacked on eight point off the pine.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Maryland got off to a 14-0 start, forcing seven Crusader turnovers over the opening couple of minutes of the game. Donnelly stopped the scoring outburst, driving baseline for the reverse two. Cross scooped a drive to the rack, which resulted in the Crusaders' second bucket of the game as the Terps led 23-4 through one.
- In the second, back-to-back shots by Cross and freshman Kaitlyn Flanagan as the shot clock expired dropped the margin to 46-20. Maryland led 52-24 at the half.
- The Crusaders began the third outscoring the Terps 5-2, getting a three from freshman Kaitlyn Flanagan and a mid-range jumper on the left elbow by junior Janelle Allen.
- Two straight McCormack threes combined with a Foreman turnaround jumper capped an 8-0 Crusader run to make it 77-50 with 6:42 left.
OUTSIDE THE BOX:
- Holy Cross matched Maryland with 20 points each in the third quarter.
- The 61 points were the fourth most in program history during an NCAA Tournament game.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
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