Holy Cross Defeats UNC-Asheville In Game Three Of State Farm Classic
Saturday, December 29, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Sophomore guard Briana McFadden scored 10 of her game-high 19 points after halftime to lead a second-half charge by Holy Cross that sparked the Crusaders to a 79-60 win over UNC-Asheville on Saturday in the third game of the State Farm Classic at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
McFadden, who also chipped in five rebounds and three assists, paced a quartet of Crusaders in double figures on the afternoon. Freshman center Elizabeth Campbell had 14 points, eight of which came in the second stanza, and freshman guard Alyssa May and sophomore guard Bethany O'Dell recorded 11 and 10, respectively.
The Crusaders won the battle in the paint, 48-26, while also outscoring UNC-Asheville off of turnovers (20-9), on second-chance opportunities (16-8) and on the fast break (18-2). Holy Cross' bench also scored 31 points, compared to just 20 by the reserves for UNC-Asheville.
Senior guard Laura Aloisi six assists and eight rebounds, both game highs, to guide Holy Cross to 17-8 and 49-34 advantages in the respective categories. The Crusaders also tallied 13 steals en route to forcing UNC-Asheville into 19 turnovers in the affair.
Holy Cross (5-7) took its first lead of the game, 40-38, at the 16:48 mark of the second half, and saw the advantage grow to 52-40 at the end of a 16-2 run that spanned more than five minutes. UNC-Asheville (7-7) drew within 10 points, 52-42, on its next possession, but would get no closer as the Crusaders' lead swelled to as many as 21 in the latter stages of the contest. Holy Cross outscored the Bulldogs in the second by a 48-26 margin, shooting 48.6 percent from the field while holding UNC-Asheville to just a 28.6 percent clip.
Bulldogs' senior guard Ashton Barton connected on a trio of three-point field goals in the game's opening 10 minutes, helping her team build a 24-16 lead at the midway point of the opening frame. Holy Cross used a 5-0 run to narrow the gap to three, 24-21, at the 7:53 mark, but UNC-Asheville snuffed the run with eight-straight points to open an 11-point advantage. An 8-0 run by the Crusaders again cut the gap to three with less than three minutes to play in the half, and the teams traded baskets over the final 2:55 to send UNC-Asheville into halftime with a 34-31 lead.
Freshman guard Chioma Okoli led UNC-Asheville with a career-high 16 points, while Barton's 15 and 10 from both senior center Stacy Shepard and freshman guard Lindsey Montgomery also gave the Bulldogs four players in double digits. Barton grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the effort, and junior guard Ana Baker led the way with four assists.
- UF –
