Women's basketball - Bucknell 77, Holy Cross 48: Shooting woes continue for Crusaders

LEWISBURG, Pa. — Freshman forward Lauren Manis scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, but the rest of the Holy Cross women's basketball team was ice-cold in a 77-48 loss to Bucknell on Sunday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.

Take away Manis' performance and the Crusaders made just 13 of 59 field-goal attempts (22 percent), including 3 of 19 from behind the arc. They weren't much better at the line, making just 7 of 11.

Holy Cross (2-13, 0-4 Patriot League) held its own on defense — Bucknell (12-3, 4-0) held a 38-34 rebounding edge — but the shooting woes were too much to overcome, especially in the second half.

While the Crusaders took 68 shot to the Bison's 47 for the game, Bucknell made 15 of its 29 shots (51.7 percent) after intermission to break open a 32-23 game. The Bison outscored the Crusaders, 23-9, in the third quarter.

Senior forward Madelyn Ganser led Holy Cross with eight rebounds.

Claire DeBoer led Bucknell with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Kaitlyn Slagus  added 13 points and eight boards.

The Crusaders jumped out to a 6-2 lead, but the Bison went on a 13-5 run to pull ahead, 15-11, at the end of the first quarter.

Holy Cross responded with a surge in the second, regaining the lead with a jumper from junior guard Tricia Byrne with 4:52 left in the half to go up, 21-19.

The Bison then scored 13 of the final 15 points of the half before extending their lead to 55-32 after three quarters.

"We really played well for 15 minutes, but shooting continues to be our Achilles heal," HC coach Bill Gibbons said.

The Crusaders sent the Bison to the line 28 times, where they made 21 free throws.

"Frustration fouls, fatigue fouls," Gibbons said. "We got a little tired and that happens when you don't shoot the ball well."

In addition to Manis, only two other Crusaders made more than one field goal. Junior guard Infiniti Thomas-Waheed scored nine points on 4-of-10 shooting, while Madison Springfield made 2 of 7 shots for six points.

Thomas-Waheed tied her season-high with four steals.

Holy Cross travels to Lafayette on Wednesday.