Feb. 19, 2005

Box Score

Worcester, Mass. - Junior guard Jessica Conte poured in a career-high 18 points and three other Crusaders reached double-figures to lead Holy Cross to an 80-74 victory over Colgate on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at the Hart Center. The Crusaders (16-9) remain in first place in the Patriot League with an 11-1 conference record, while Colgate slips to 9-16 (5-7 Patriot League).

Senior Maggie Fontana scored 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, and sophomore Brittany Keil added 15 points, going 5-for-7 for the home team. Junior Shannon Bush also had a big afternoon offensively to chip in 12 points for the Crusaders.

The two teams battled to a 33-33 tie at the half in which Colgate shot 56% from the floor and Holy Cross made 50% of its shots. Both teams also forced 10 turnovers a piece and combined for 11 steals. Colgate took its first lead of the half (14-13) on a Molly Patterson three-ball with 12:23 remaining. Less than three minutes later, though, the Crusaders then went on an 11-2 run to take a 27-20 lead with 7:10 to go. During that run, Bush accounted for seven of HC's 11 points. Colgate chipped away at the lead the remainder of the half and took the lead again (33-32) on a Chigozie Ozor steal and lay-in with under a minute remaining.

The Raiders opened up the second strong and found themselves up by nine (47-38) with 15:17 to go. But the Crusaders came right back and went on an 8-0 run over the next 1:13 to cut the lead to one, 47-46. A Conte trey with 13:39 on the clock knotted the game at 49, and with 11:26 to go, a Fontana free throw gave HC a 54-53 lead that the Crusaders would not give up the rest of the way.The Crusaders led by as much as 11 on two different occasions with less than 3:00 left.

Holy Cross finished the game, having shot better than 54% from the field as a team. Senior center Lisa Andrews pulled down a team-high six rebounds for the Crusaders. She also chipped in nine points, two assists and a block. Both Conte and Keil tied for team-high honors with four assists each.

Ozor led all scorers with a game-high 21 points for Colgate. Megan Ballard finished with 15, and Allison Lipinski and Emily Braseth added 11 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the Raiders. Colgate shot 46.2% for the game.

Holy Cross travels to Bucknell for a 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 23. The Crusaders have already clinched a top two seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament and will be hosting at least the first two games of the tournament at the Hart Center. With a win at Bucknell, the Crusaders will win the Patriot League regular season title.