BOSTON - Senior Sydney Johnson scored 19 points, sophomore Lauren Davenport added 12 points, but the top-seeded Boston University women's basketball program was denied its first Patriot League championship, dropping a 66-61 contest to No. 2 Holy Cross on Sunday afternoon at Case Gym.

After trailing by as many as 22 points late in the third quarter, BU (24-8) clawed its way back with 16 consecutive points, as part of a 24-5 extended run, to pull within one with 2:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. However, Holy Cross (24-8) got a bucket on its next possession, and held the Terriers off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

The Crusaders capture their Patriot League-leading 12th title, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to make their 13th appearance in the Big Dance.

Johnson finished 5-for-11 from the field, draining a team-high three shots from beyond the arc. Davenport led the team with six rebounds. Junior Caitlin Weimar added 10 points and three steals.

Bronagh Power-Cassidy, who was named the Championship MVP, dropped a game-best 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Janelle Allen also sank seven shots for 16 points, while Lindsay Berger and Cara McCormack each totaled 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• BU raced out to a 10-3 lead in the first 3:21 of the contest. Senior Maren Durant started the scoring with a layup, while sophomore Alex Giannaros went from halfcourt through the right lane and off glass for a bucket in the spurt.
• Holy Cross countered with 10 consecutive points, however, as Power-Cassidy buried a three, while the visitors took the lead on McCormack's triple.
• Trailing by two in the first quarter's final minute, Davenport got a right-handed teardrop floater to fall while drawing contact. She missed the and-one shot, however, and Power-Cassidy hit a three on the other end for an 18-15 Crusader edge after 10 minutes.
• Giannaros pulled the Terriers within three once again with 6:45 on the clock in the second, dribbling the ball to the foul line and putting up a jumper that bounced off the rim multiple times, but fell in.
• With 4:13 until halftime, junior Sophie Beneventine canned a triple that made it 32-29 in Holy Cross' favor. Five-straight Power-Cassidy paints replenished Holy Cross' margin to eight, and McCormack's midrange basket gave the Crusaders a 39-30 advantage at the end of the first half.
• Berger began the third quarter with seven-consecutive points, ballooning the lead to 46-30 in the opening two minutes of the second half.
• Davenport collected five points in a row, but the Terriers were held without a point for three minutes, allowing Holy Cross to expand its lead to 56-35 following Allen's layup as the clock read 4:05.
• After two McCormack foul shots put the Crusaders up 58-36 with 2:54 to play in the third, BU scored the final eight points of the stanza. Davenport closed the stanza with a nostalgic three-point play off a Holy Cross shot clock violation.
• Johnson ignited the fourth with a driving layup past multiple defenders, then stuck a left-wing three-pointer to cut the deficit to 58-49 just 59 seconds into the period.
• Senior Maggie Pina drilled her own three from the opposite side to close the gap to six points with 7:17 remaining, as the Crusaders didn't get their first points until the clock read 5:40.
• Allen's jump shot with 4:17 remaining gave Holy Cross a 62-56 edge, but freshman Sam Crispe cashed in a layup in stride a minute later. Johnson shook off her defender after Crispe picked off Addisyn Cross on the next play, and nailed a three-pointer in front of her own bench to cut it to 62-61 with 2:30 to go.
• Power-Cassidy delivered a pull-up jumper at the 2:01 mark, and BU went 0-for-4 from that point. The Terriers had the ball with 16.6 seconds to go, but Giannaros' three was off the mark.

STATS

• BU shot 40 percent from the field in the game, and 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from deep.
• Holy Cross made over 52 percent of its shots, including a 60.6 shooting percentage in the first three quarters. The Crusaders were 4-for-5 from three in the opening quarter, but 0-for-7 onward.
• Rebounding went in Holy Cross' favor, 35-19. That is BU's lowest mark of the season. 
• BU also registered a season-low seven assists.
• The Terriers got 18 points from their bench, and had nine fastbreak points. BU turned 18 Crusader turnovers into 18 points.
• Holy Cross went a perfect 16-for-16 from the foul line. BU was 11-of-16.

GAME NOTES

• BU led the Patriot League with three selections on the All-Tournament Team: Durant, Johnson, and Weimar. 
• Johnson led the Terriers with 15.7 points and four assists per game. Weimar collected 31 points on a Terrier-high 61.9 percent shooting in two games. Durant averaged 12 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 2.3. blocks across all three games.
• The game drew 1,305 fans to Case Gym, a season-high.
• Sunday was the first meeting between BU and Holy Cross in a women's championship game.
• BU falls to 3-10 in conference title games, and 0-2 in the Patriot League championship contest.
• Johnson has recorded 65 games with 10 or more points, including 41 of her last 50.
• Davenport notched her sixth double-digit effort against a Patriot League foe this year, and eighth overall.
• Weimar scored 10-plus in 18 of her 19 appearances against Patriot League teams.
• Holy Cross improves to 22-14 all-time against BU in the rivalry, and 2-0 in the Patriot League Tournament.

LOOKING AHEAD

• BU will await an announcement on the field for the Women's NIT. The teams will be revealed on Sunday evening following the NCAA Tournament's Selection Show, with opponents announced on Monday (March 13).