Box Score: No. 5 Holy Cross 57, No. 4 Army 53
WORCESTER, Mass. - Fifth seed Holy Cross used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to overcome a 22-20 halftime deficit and finish the afternoon with a 57-53 quarterfinal win over No. 4 Army on Saturday afternoon in the first game of the 2010 Patriot League Tournament. Holy Cross will host the remaining quarterfinals and both semifinals on Sunday.
In a rematch of the 2009 Patriot League quarterfinal in which the Black Knights won, the outcome would not be the same on Saturday as Army ends its season with an 11-18 mark.
Junior F Erin Anthony scored her 1,000th point on a free throw in the first half and the first team All-Patriot League honoree finished with 12 points. Held without a field goal in the first half, Anthony scored eight of her 12 points in the second frame. Anthony's 11 rebounds led all players as she completed her league-leading 14th double-double of the season. Junior G Nalini Hawkins led all players with 17 points, including a 3-of-4 effort from behind the arc. Junior G/F Laura Baranek completed her first career double-double, matching Anthony for a game-high 11 rebounds.
"Holy Cross did a great job on (Erin) Anthony today, double and triple teaming her all day," said head coach Dave Magarity. "I thought she did a great job on the kick-outs getting some kids a lot of open looks. We just really struggled offensively. I'm very happy for a senior-laden Holy Cross team today. They played with a lot of motivation and deserve a lot of credit."
Despite shooting 40 percent (20-of-50) from the field, 21 Army turnovers contributed to the setback. Holy Cross scored 20 points directly off Army giveaways. The Black Knights forced 16 Holy Cross miscues and the Crusaders shot 35 percent (19-of-55) from the floor. Army out-rebounded Holy Cross, 38-32.
Army scored its first four points of the game from the free throw line, which included a pair from Anthony to notch her 1,000th career point at the 16:25 mark. Holy Cross, meanwhile, opened up an 11-4 lead in the early going. Hawkins got Army going with five-straight points, including a three-ball at the 13:12 mark, ignited an 8-0 Army run as the Black Knights took their first lead of the game (12-11) with 11:14 on the clock. Freshman G Molly Yardley's baseline three capped the spurt.
The teams continued to play back-and-forth over the remainder of the half. Sophomore G Meagan Doucette nailed a triple from the top of the key with 8:16 to play, giving Army a 17-13 lead. The Black Knights entered the locker room with a 22-20 halftime advantage. Hawkins led all players with eight points in the first half.
Holy Cross wasted no time leveling the score in the second half, as Meredith Wards' steal and ensuing layup tied the score at 22-all with 19:45 on the clock. Ward followed with a layup a minute later to sway the score in favor of Holy Cross (24-22) with 18:36 to go.
Anthony, who was held without a field goal in the first half, scored Army's first six points of the second half unanswered and gave the Black Knights a 28-26 edge with 16:05 to go.
Again, the teams traded buckets over the next handful of minutes with neither team leading by more than two during that stretch. Baranek's putback at the 11:11 mark put the Black Knights up by one (34-33), but the Crusaders caught fire from outside and used a crushing 12-0 run to take a 45-34 lead with 8:41 to go. Nine of the Crusaders' 12 points came from behind the arc, as Briana McFadden, Bethany O'Dell and Jessica Pearson all drilled three-point buckets.
The Black Knights continued to chip away at the deficit, trimming it to seven (49-42) with 5:42 to play on back-to-back layups from Hawkins and Coiffard. Army continued to play from behind and never got over the hump. Cutting it to six (56-50) with under two minutes to play, a scramble under the basket gave Holy Cross the ball with 1:50 to play and the Crusaders were able to drain valuable time off the clock at that point. Army's lone bucket over the final 2:38 came on a Hawkins three-pointer at the buzzer, which accounted for the final four-point margin (57-53).
Holy Cross advances to take on top-seed Lehigh in Sunday's first semifinal at 1 p.m. No. 2 American and No. 3 Navy will play at 3:30 p.m. for a spot in the championship game, which airs live on CBS College Sports Network on Saturday, March 13, at 6 p.m.
Notes: Dave Magarity's starting lineup included F Erin Anthony, F Kait Goodall, G/F Laura Baranek, G Jessie Coiffard and G Nalini Hawkins running the point ... sophomore G Meagan Doucette started the second half in place of Goodall ... Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Femovich presented Anthony with the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award prior to tip-off ... Anthony is the 15th player to join Army's 1,000-point mark and the sixth to do so as a junior ... with 1,008 career points, Anthony now ranks 14th all-time at Army ... Hawkins has now led all players in each of her last three Patriot League Tournament games ... she was named to last year's all-tournament team after averaging 22.5 points over Army's two touranment outings.
