LEWISBURG, Pa. – Senior guard Kaitlyn Flanagan sank a pair of free throws with 0:46 left to give the Holy Cross women's basketball team the lead and the Crusaders held on for a 58-55 victory over the Bucknell Bison in the Patriot League opener on Wednesday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg.

Holy Cross has now won four straight and sits at 7-5 overall (1-0 PL), while the Bison drop to 4-8 (0-1 PL).

Following Flanagan's go-ahead free throws, Bucknell's Isabella Casey missed a jumper on the other end and senior Meg Cahalan drained two free throws of her own for a 58-55 lead with 0:17 to play. Holy Cross played strong defense on the final possession and forced a missed off-balance three from Tuana Coskun as time expired.

Cahalan led the Crusaders with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and the duo of Flanagan and fellow senior Simone Foreman added 11 points apiece. Foreman added 11 boards for her third double-double of the season and 11^th of her career.

Coskun had a game-high 23 points to pace Bucknell and Casey tallied 19.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Back-to-back threes from Flanagan and senior Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly helped the Crusaders build an 8-4 in the early stages. Holy Cross would maintain the lead throughout the first quarter and a Cahalan layup made it a 16-11 game after one.
• Bucknell was unable to get any closer than six throughout the second period and a pair of buckets from Foreman in the final three plus minutes gave Holy Cross a 30-22 lead at halftime.
• In the early stages of the third quarter, the Crusaders led 36-28 before the Bison used an 11-0 run including six points from Casey to take a 39-36 lead at the 2:03 mark. Cahalan and Coskun each sank a pair of free throws in the final minute for their respective teams and Bucknell held a 41-40 edge after three.
• Holy Cross used a Donnelly layup in the opening seconds of the fourth to spark an 8-3 spurt capped off by a steal and layup by Flanagan that made it a 48-44 game with 6:13 to play.
• From there, the Bison regained the lead with seven straight points and led 53-50 at the 2:13 mark before two free throws from junior Hannah Griffin and a Flanagan jumper gave the Crusaders a 54-53 edge. Coskun answered the jumper with one of her own which set the stage for the clutch free throws from Cahalan and Flanagan to give Holy Cross a fourth straight win.
• As a team, the Crusaders went 8-of-8 from the line in the fourth quarter and 15-of-16 (93.8%) on the day.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Cahalan's 19 points marked the ninth time in 11 games that she has scored in double figures on the season.
• Holy Cross held a 29-23 edge on the glass behind 11 boards from Foreman and four from Griffin.
• Head coach Candice Green's team shot 39.2% (20-of-51) from the floor.
• The game featured five ties and nine lead changes and the Crusaders have now won eight straight against the Bison dating back to Dec. 30, 2022.

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross will battle Navy on Saturday, Jan. 3 in Annapolis with tip-off slated for 1 p.m.

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