WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior point guard
Kaitlyn Flanagan hit the go-ahead layup with 31 seconds to play and the Holy Cross women's basketball team erased a late deficit in a 46-45 victory over the Vermont Catamounts on Tuesday morning at the Hart Center Arena.
The game marked the Crusaders' annual Field Trip Game presented by Polar Beverages in front of an energetic crowd of 3,167.
With the victory, Holy Cross improves to 5-5 on the season while Vermont drops to 9-4.
Vermont held a 43-37 lead with 5:59 to play, but the Crusaders outscored them by a 9-2 margin the rest of the way.
Flanagan received the inbounds pass and drove three quarters of the court for the go-ahead layup in the waning seconds. Following a Vermont timeout, Nikola Priede missed a turnaround jumper as time expired and junior
Kendall Eddy grabbed the rebound to secure the victory.
Senior
Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly led the way for Holy Cross with nine points and 10 rebounds to go along with eight points apiece from Flanagan and classmate
Simone Foreman.
Priede paced the Catamounts with 11 points and seven rebounds, while Keira Hanson and Jadyn Weltz added 10 apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Vermont led 7-3 just over four minutes into the game when junior Janie Bachmann sank a pair of free throws to spark a 9-2 run. Eddy capped off the run with a three and things were deadlocked at 14 apiece after one.
- In the second quarter, a Flanagan jumper followed by a Donnelly three opened up a six-point advantage for the Crusaders at 24-18 with 4:16 left. Bachmann's layup in the final minute eventually gave the hosts a 28-24 lead at the half.
- The Catamounts battled back in the third quarter as they trailed 33-29 before scoring the final six points to take a 35-33 lead into the fourth.
- Holy Cross continued to fight and would not go quietly as they tied the game at 35 on a Flanagan layup before an 8-2 spurt that gave Vermont the aforementioned 43-37 edge. Over the final 5:59 of the contest, head coach Candice Green's team limited the Catamounts to 1-of-4 shooting from the field and forced two turnovers.
- Trailing 45-41 with under two minutes to play, senior Meg Cahalan buried a three from the top of the key to bring Holy Cross within one. That score held until the final minute when Malia Lenz misfired on a three and Flanagan's rebound set the stage for her clutch layup.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- Holy Cross featured a balanced scoring attack as five different players scored six or more points.
- Donnelly and Foreman helped the Crusaders post a 41-33 edge on the glass as they each corralled 10 boards.
- The 10 boards for Donnelly marked a season-high.
- Eddy added three points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal in the victory as her seven rebounds tied a career-high that had been set at Marist earlier this season.
- The Crusaders limited Vermont to 29.6% (16-of-54) shooting from the floor and have now held opponents to 50 points or less in three of their last four games.
- Tuesday marks Holy Cross' first win over the Catamounts since Nov. 28, 2018.
UP NEXT:
- The Crusaders will host UMass Lowell on Sunday afternoon with opening tip at the Hart Center arena slated for 2 p.m.
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