WORCESTER, Mass. – Hitting the road to the Bay state, the American women's basketball struggled to keep pace with the high-powered offense of Holy Cross, falling 65-48 from the Hart Center in Worcester.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Madisyn Moore-Nicholson was tied with Charlotte Tuhy as top scorer for American on the outing, the sophomore and freshman duo the only Eagles in double-digits during the matchup. Moore-Nicholson finished with 11 points, six of which came from the free throw line.
• Tuhy struggled to get started offensively against the Crusaders but was still an asset on the floor for the Eagles as the game went on, finishing with a double-double, her seventh of the season. The freshman led all players on the court with 16 rebounds in addition to her 11 points.
• Simone Foreman, along with Meg Cahalan and Janie Bachmann led offensively for Holy Cross. Foreman finished with 16 points, while Calahan and Bachmann each had 12. Bachmann also tallied five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.
• The Crusaders took immaculate care of the basketball against the Eagles, with only six turnovers in the entire contest; American had 15.
• Down low, American was outscored 20 to 46 in points in the paint and HC capitalized on its pickpocketing, outscoring AU 12 to five in points from turnovers. AU once again struggled with bench scoring, only 13 points coming from reserves.

How it Happened

• It started with a strong defensive showing, neither team scoring on its first possession. It was four-all through the first four minutes of the contest, and at the media timeout with 3:37 to play, American held a 9-8 lead with four Eagles in scoring position.
• The Crusaders closed out the first with a 12-2 run, going 6-for-7 from the field in the process to lead 16-10 through one. American struggled offensively, shooting 4-for-16 to open the game, but held a narrow 11-10 edge in rebounding.
• A three pointer from Molly Driscoll put the Eagles back within one, down 18-17 with 7:15 to play in the half, but the Crusaders went on another run, this one 6-0, to go up 24-17. A layup from Driscoll capped the damage, and American was down 24-19 with five to go in the opening half.
• Through the opening 20, American was still hanging around, only down by single digits, 31-22, but unable to stem the scoring from Holy Cross, the Raiders shooting 42.4 percent in the first half to the Eagles' 30.8 percent.
• Within three minutes of the second half, Moore-Nicholson found herself leading the squad with nine points, six of which had come from the free throw line.
• The Crusaders took their first double-digit lead with a Flanagan layup with the clock reading 6:52 in the third, up 37-26 over the Eagles.
• Holy Cross continued to cruise past American, despite being 0-for-11 from three-point range to open the game. At this point, the 3:58 mark in the third, Foreman, Cahalan, and Bachmann each had 10 points and three rebounds apiece. Bachmann also had three assists two steals, and two blocks.
• American was down 50-32 with 10 left to play in Massachusetts.
• The third period saw the lowest shooting percentage of the game for American, the squad scoring just four points in live play, six of their ten points coming from the charity stripe. The Crusaders shot 44.4 percent from the floor to AU's 15, and outscored American 19-10 in the third.
• The fourth saw the lowest shooting percentage of the game for the home team but still managed to draw 15 points on 33.3 percent shooting. Tuhy led in the final period, five points sinking from the freshman as the Eagles finished with their highest scoring period of the game, tallying 16 points.
• American would finish out the game with 7-0 run, but would ultimately fall 65-48 in the Hart Center.

On the Horizon
The Eagles squad will remain out when they face Navy in Annapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 14 before coming back to Bender on Saturday, Jan. 17 to take on Army.

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