Top College News Subscribe to the Newsletter

Holy Cross Women’s Basketball: It’s Clobberin’ Time!

Staff Writer

Published: Friday, February 8, 2013

Updated: Sunday, February 10, 2013 17:02

On Saturday, February 2, the Holy Cross women’s basketball team continued on their march for a second straight appearance in a postseason tournament with a win over the Colgate Raiders.  After wrapping up the nonconference portion of their schedule with a respectable 8-7 record, the Lady Saders struggled out of the gate with a 1-4 record to start Patriot League play.  They knew, however, that all was not yet lost.  They were playing close games that were decided by only a play or two.  The team also saw junior guard and co-captain Alex Smith become the 29th Crusader to score 1,000 points in a tough game against American in mid-January.  A win at then-first-place Army seemed to rejuvenate the team which found itself right back in the hunt for the Patriot League title and an NCAA tournament berth.

    This past Saturday, the Crusaders kept the momentum going with a 71-61 victory over conference rival Colgate.  The team saw excellent performances by Alex Smith (17 points), junior guard Brije Malone (12 points, 7 assists), senior forward and co-captain Amy Lepley (12 points, 5 assists, 8 rebounds), and junior forward Christine Ganser (11 points, 6 rebounds).  Freshman center Molly Hourigan, sophomore guard Ashley Cooper, and freshman forward Raquel Scott also provided valuable minutes and solid defense to aid in the victory.  Senior guard Jhazmine Lynch led the Raiders with a career high 19 points.

    In the early going, Colgate jumped out to a 5-0 lead.  The co-captains responded as Smith and Lepley connected on three three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Saders a 9-8 edge.  Both teams continued the tight battle throughout the remainder of the half with Holy Cross holding a narrow 29-26 lead at the break.  Oddly, both teams shot 10 for 28 from the floor in the first half.  While Holy Cross never relinquished its halftime lead, the Raiders kept it close throughout much of the second half.  The game was sealed as the Crusaders put down 7 of 8 foul shots in the final fifty seconds to result in the final score of 71-61.

Holy Cross played a solid game in multiple key statistical categories.  The team committed just nine turnovers and connected on 17 of 20 shots from the foul line.  The Crusaders also outscored Colgate 14-8 on points off turnovers.  While the team has continued to suffer from injuries, legendary head coach Bill Gibbons has been able to successfully integrate his young new players into his system as the team seems to be finding its rhythm.  With the win, Holy Cross improved to 25-0 all time against Colgate at the Hart Center.

    Holy Cross looks to continue playing solid basketball when they head to Lehigh on Sunday, February 10 to begin the second cycle of the Patriot League season.  Now back to a .500 record (11-11) and with three home games left on the schedule, be sure to be there to cheer on your Crusaders as they look to clinch their 13th NCAA tournament appearance. Hold on to your seats, fans, because it’s clobberin’ time!

Recommended: Articles that may interest you

Be the first to comment on this article!





log out