Big Green Hang Tough Early, Succumb to Holy Cross’ Late Push

Sunday, November 27

Hanover, N.H.

2:00 PM

Dartmouth College

1-4,0-0Ivy League

Holy Cross

4-2,0-0Patriot

Holy Cross

Dartmouth

Olivia Lawlor ’26

Photo by: Chris Poss

Big Green Hang Tough Early, Succumb to Holy Cross’ Late Push

11/27/2022 5:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Olivia Lawlor’s career-high 20 points, including 17 in the first half, were not enough in a 68-55 loss

By: Kyle Relf

HANOVER, N.H. — The Dartmouth women's basketball team challenged Holy Cross and led in the early minutes of the third quarter, but the Crusaders were too strong down the stretch in the Big Green's 68-55 loss Sunday afternoon at Leede Arena.

Dartmouth, nearly midway through its non-conference slate, moved to 1-4 on the season, while the Crusaders hiked their record to 4-2.

Led by Olivia Lawlor's career-high 20 points, the Big Green looked to avenge last season's 77-49 loss to the Crusaders and were in position to do so after taking the lead just minutes after halftime, but Holy Cross emerged with a 51-42 advantage at the end of the third and successfully closed out the game in the fourth.

Lawlor was 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-6 at the free throw line in her career-best offensive performance, and did so against a Holy Cross squad that boasts a top-25 scoring defense nationally. She was the only Dartmouth player in double figures as Victoria Page followed with eight, while Mia Curtis and Allie Harland pitched in with six apiece. Bronagh Power-Cassidy led Holy Cross with 17 points and Lindsay Berger posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Despite Lawlor's 17 first-half points and the Big Green outrebounding the Crusaders over the opening two quarters, Holy Cross held a 31-30 advantage at halftime and even led by as many as seven in the second quarter. Dartmouth looked to Lawlor down low for crucial buckets and the freshman from Summit, New Jersey answered the call with nine straight points to help the Big Green cut the lead to three (30-27).

Harland knocked down three at the charity stripe in the final seconds of the half to bring the Big Green within one.

Lawlor picked up where she left off, giving Dartmouth a 32-31 advantage with the first points of the third quarter for either side. Holy Cross answered with a layup on the other end before Leiya Stuart canned a 3-pointer to give the Big Green a two-point edge.

The Crusaders erased the slight deficit with a layup off an offensive rebound, two of their 16 second-chance points, to tie the game, 35-35. Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly's triple allowed Holy Cross to reclaim the lead and though the Big Green got important buckets from Karina Mitchell, Mia Curtis and Grace Niekelski, the visitors found themselves with a nine-point lead heading into the final quarter.

Dartmouth trailed by 11 but garnered some momentum in the opening minutes of the fourth with Emma Koch's jumper, followed by Lawlor's steal on the other end and Page's basket off the Crusader turnover. Holy Cross responded with a 13-2 run guided by Power-Cassidy's nine-point spurt to take control. Dartmouth turned up the pressure defensively in the closing minutes and scored the game's final six points thanks to a strong press, but came up short, 68-55, in the end.

The Big Green wrap up their four-game homestand Thursday evening at Leede Arena, hosting Vermont for a 7 p.m. tip-off. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and an audio broadcast will be available for fans via the Dartmouth Athletics website.