Feb. 6, 2010
Box Score | 
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EASTON, Pa. - As the three-point attempt left Lauren Jackson's hands with six seconds on the clock, it seemed bound to go in, but instead the ball bounced off the rim and Holy Cross held on for a 50-47 win.
Lafayette (4-18, 2-6), which trailed by as many as nine points, cut the lead to three with six seconds remaining. Unfortunately the team could not complete the comeback and Holy Cross (7-16, 3-5) earned a season split with the Leopards, who captured a win at Worcester earlier in the season.
Elizabeth Virgin led all scorers with 15 points while Jackson chipped in 12, half of which came from three-point range.
Rebounds proved troublesome for the Leopards, who had just 24 compared to the Crusaders' 41. Holy Cross subsequently finished with 15 second-chance points to Lafayette's four.
After giving up a three to open the game, the Leopards responded with six unanswered points.
Virgin's layup with 13 minutes left kept Lafayette ahead 12-9 before Briana McFadden knotted the game at 12-all with a trey one minute later.
Holy Cross went up 15-14 on two McFadden free throws and held a 22-16 edge on a Bethany O'Dell three-point play with 7:13 on the clock.
The Leopards never let the Crusaders take more than a five-point advantage until Whitney Fremeau's layup with less than two minutes remaining made it 28-21, which remained the score at halftime.
The teams traded baskets to open the second half, including Virgin's second-chance basket that made it 33-27 less than four minutes into the action. Jackson drained a three to keep it a six-point contest (38-32) with 11:30 left.
Jackson followed that with another three as the shot clock expired for a 38-35 score, the closest the Leopards had been since the 4:08 mark of the first half.
A 6-2 Holy Cross run took five minutes off the clock before two Jackson free throws at 4:48 brought the lead back to five (44-39).
Two minutes later, Sarah McGorry cut the lead to three (46-43) and Jackson's layup with just over 30 seconds to play kept it a three-point game, 48-45.
With 15 seconds remaining, the Leopards had a costly turnover and were forced to foul but Fremeau missed the front end of a one-and-one. Melissa Downey grabbed the rebound and Virgin's ensuing layup made it 49-47 with eight seconds on the clock.
The Leopards were again forced to foul, but McFadden was only able to capitalize on one of her two attempts, giving the Leopards 7.7 seconds with which to work, but Jackson's three-point attempt hit the rim.
Lafayette hits the road for two games, beginning on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. game at Colgate.
Postgame Notes:
- Both teams participated in the WBCA's Pink Zone promotion to raise support of breast cancer awareness. The Leopards donned the same pink uniforms they wore for last year's Pink Zone game and Holy Cross sported pink shoe laces and warm-ups.
- Senior Amanda Leone pulled down a career-high three rebounds.
- Virgin's 15 points matched her season high and her five steals marked a career best.
