WORCESTER, Mass. (2/20/2007)—Senior Kaitlin Foley registered a game-high 23 points to lead Holy Cross to a 67-47 victory over Colgate University in Patriot League women’s basketball action this evening at the Hart Center. Freshman TaHara Williams (Mason, Ohio) led the Raiders with 11 points.

 

The Crusaders used a double-digit run in each half to hold off Colgate and post their third straight victory and improve to 12-16 overall and 7-6 in league play. The Raiders fell to 5-23 overall and 4-9 in conference action.

 

Sophomore Gretchen Polinski (Mansfield, Ohio) added 10 points, while senior Carly Brescacin (Tecumseh, Ontario) led the charge on the glass with seven boards.

 

The opening 10 minutes of the contest was a lot of back and forth action that featured three ties and four lead changes. The Raiders broke a 13-13 deadlock with a layup from Caitlin Gillard (Vestal, N.Y.), but it was all Crusaders for the remaining nine minutes of the opening frame.

 

Brianna McFadden dropped in two free throws to tie the game and jumpstart at 13-3 run in the final 9:15 of the half. McFadden had seven points in that stretch that put Holy Cross in front, 26-18, going into the break.

 

Colgate jumped all over Holy Cross to start the second half. The Raiders put together an 8-2 run in the opening 3:25 to tie the game for the fourth time at 28-28. The Crusaders’ defense put the clamps on Colgate’s offense for the next seven minutes as they ran off 11 unanswered points for a 39-28 lead.

 

Williams stopped the run with a pair of free throws at the 9:37 mark. Holy Cross held the Raiders without a field goal for nine minutes as it pushed its lead to 47-31 with 7:35 left on the clock. The Crusaders continued to build on the lead, cruising to the 67-47 victory.

 

Freshman Bethany O’Dell added 12 points and seven rebounds for Holy Cross and Briana McFadden had 11 points.

 

Colgate shot 38.3 percent for the game and just 25 percent from long range. The Crusaders hit 42.2 percent of their shots from the floor. Holy Cross had a narrow 31-29 lead on the glass.

 

The Raiders close out the regular season on Feb. 24, hosting Navy on senior day. Colgate will tip off against the Mids at 4:30 p.m., on Time Warner 26.