WORCESTER, Mass – Junior guard
Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly double-doubled with 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds as the Holy Cross women's basketball team defeated nonconference opponent Northeastern 61-37 Saturday afternoon on Solomon Court.
The win was the third straight for the Crusaders (7-4). Donnelly double-doubled for the second straight contest tallying 13 points with her personal-high 17 caroms. She shot 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the field and was 3-of-4 (75%) from deep. She was joined in double-figures by classmates
Simone Foreman (game-high 17 points) and
Meg Cahalan (12 points). For the Huskies (1-8), Yirsy Queliz had 15 points with four assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Northeastern jumped ahead 6-0 on a pair of back-to-back wing three-pointers. The Crusaders missed their first four shots from the field until junior Kaitlyn Flanagan drove from the top of the key at the 5:04 mark for two. Coming out of the media timeout, Flanagan dished to Donnelly for a triple while sophomore Kendall Eddy canned a mid-range jumper and senior Lindsay Berger converted two layups in the paint increasing the quarter closing run to 11-2 which gave the guests an 11-8 lead through one.
- Eddy began a stretch of 15 straight Crusader points draining a trey on the right wing with 8:23 left before half. Holy Cross outscored Northeastern 19-3 over the final 8:23 of the stanza as Donnelly slashed through the paint for a lay-in and the 32-16 halftime edge.
- Both teams combined to score four points over the opening 5:16 of the third quarter as Holy Cross remained in front 34-18. Donnelly drained her third three of the game for the double-double which also doubled up the margin 40-20. The Huskies outscored the Crusaders 10-4 over the final possessions of the period to trail 44-30.
- Cahalan made a jumper to give the Crusaders a game-best 26 point lead late in the fourth stanza.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- 11 of Foreman's 17 points came in the second quarter.
- Holy Cross held a team to under 40 points for the first time since Dec. 7, 2023.
- The last time a Crusader recorded 15 or more rebounds was Donnelly hauling in 15 caroms at Brown on Nov. 30, 2022.
- The Crusaders dominated the boards (48-to-18) and paint scoring (32-to-10).
- Northeastern's 24.1% (14-of-58) shooting percentage was a season-low allowed by Holy Cross.
POSTGAME THOUGHTS:
UP NEXT:
- Holy Cross begins Patriot League action on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 at Loyola (Md.) (5-4, 0-0 PL)
- Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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
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