Front Royal, VA – The Lady Crusaders took on the Regent Royals this past Thursday, January 18, and overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat the Royals 82-76.
The Royals came out strong in the first quarter, which lead to them being up by ten early in the game. However, a three from Mary Pennefather (Freshman/Manassas, VA), helped Christendom close the gap, and the opening quarter ended with the Crusaders down 16-23. The Lady Crusaders continued to come back in the second quarter, scoring on their first possession with a putback by Miranda Keller (Junior/Harrisburg, PA). With 6 minutes to go in the half, the Crusaders tied it up 29-29 on a transition layup by Libby Kolesar (Freshman/Cranberry, PA). The game went back and forth for the rest of the quarter, and the Crusaders went into halftime trailing 39-41.
The Crusaders opened the second half with a shot clock buzzer-beater by Kolesar, but the Royals answered with a quick three-pointer. Despite the Crusaders elevating their intensity, the Royals outscored them 21-14 in the third. In the third the Royals posted the largest lead of the game, having an 11-point advantage during the quarter. The Lady Crusaders began the final quarter trailing by nine, but an 8-0 run by the team closed the gap quickly and put them right back in the game. Pennefather grabbed an offensive rebound and made the put-back to begin the Crusaders' scoring, and then Keller scored through contact, and made the and one free throw for the 3-point play. Catherine Thomas (Junior/Corpus Christi, TX) made a free throw and Keller hit another putback to cut the Royals' lead to 1. With 5 minutes to go, Thomas hit a 3-pointer to put the Crusaders up by 4. The Royals scored to make it a 2-point game, but four crucial free throws by Regina Bonvissuto (Junior/Kingtson Springs, TN) in the last minute of the game sealed the 82-76 win for the Crusaders.
Catherine Thomas led the Crusaders in scoring with a double-double of 29 points and 16 rebounds. Mary Pennefather had an excellent game with a triple-double of 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. And Miranda Keller had a strong performance as she finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds.
Up Next – The Lady Crusaders take on Washington Adventist University in an away game at 7pm on Monday, 1/22.