Feb. 7, 2009
Box Score WORCESTER, Mass.--Lafayette's offense started clicking in the second half with 41 points in the final period, but it was too little too late as Holy Cross came away with the 82-64 win. The Leopards were led in scoring by LaKeisha Wright's 19 points.
The Leopards (8-15, 2-6), who trailed by 19 at the half, pulled within 10 of the lead with nearly six minutes to play, but two players--Alexandra Serowoky and Wright--fouled out of the game in the final minutes to end any real chance of a comeback.
After shooting 38 percent in the opening half, Lafayette shot 43 percent in the second period, but the Crusaders (10-15, 5-3) countered with a 49 percent showing for the game, including 43 percent from three-point range. Joining Wright in double figures was freshman Sarah McGorry, who scored a career-best 12 points.
The Crusaders took an 11-7 lead six minutes into the game after Jessica Merrihue's second basket of the game. Amanda Smith's long jumper at 11:39 made it 14-11 in favor of Holy Cross and sparked a 6-0 run that temporarily gave Lafayette a 15-14 edge.
Holy Cross regained the lead for good (31-15) thanks to 17 unanswered points, including three three-pointers. Wright scored three straight baskets for the Leopards to make it 33-21 with four minutes to play but Lafayette found itself down 42-23 at halftime after failing to score in the final two minutes of the period.
The Crusaders upped their advantage to 21 poits (49-28) before four McGorry free throws in less than a minute made it a 14-point game (55-41) with 9:30 to play. Cristin Zavocki's layup at 5:53 cut the lead to 10 (62-52), but 10 Holy Cross points in the final three minutes, combined with the Leopards' foul troubles, put the game out of reach.
The Leopards return home to host Colgate on Wednesday night. Tip-off is 7 p.m.
Postgame Notes:
- Holy Cross's Briana McFadden finished with a game-high 26 points. Bethany O'Dell scored 21 points, including the 1000th of her career.
- Freshman Alexandra Serowoky made her first career start and is the first of the team's three freshmen to earn a starting nod this season.
- Lafayette's starting lineup of Virgin, Zavocki, Spicer, Wright and Serowoky was only the fourth different lineup used this season and ended a stretch of 13 games with the same lineup.
- Four players (Spicer, Wright, Smith, Malone) combined for all 23 of Lafayette's first-half points.
- Jessica Spicer had two assists and now has 250 for her career. She needs three more to tie Kim Costello '03 for seventh all-time.
- Serowoky had a career-high nine rebounds.
