Saints Come Up Short in Back-and-Forth Battle with Indiana Northwest

The Holy Cross women's basketball team battled until the final buzzer but ultimately fell to Indiana University Northwest, 68-60, on Saturday afternoon at McKenna Arena. The Saints move to 15-11 overall and 11-7 in conference play after the tightly contested matchup that featured 13 ties and 12 lead changes.

Holy Cross opened the game slowly, shooting just 18.8% from the field in the first quarter, but responded with a strong second and third quarter effort to take a 49-46 lead into the final period. Indiana Northwest closed the game on a late run, however, pulling away in the final minutes to secure the victory.

Sincere Coleman-Francis led the Saints with 15 points while going 7-for-8 from the free throw line and adding 4 rebounds. Kaiden Hanley also contributed 15 points and paced Holy Cross on the glass with 9 rebounds. Allie Caldwell finished with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and a game-high 5 steals, providing a spark on both ends of the floor.

The Saints dominated the rebounding battle with 45 boards and capitalized on second-chance opportunities, scoring 17 points off offensive rebounds. Holy Cross also forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 16 points. Despite the defensive effort, the Saints struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just one three-pointer, and shot 25.8% from the field overall.

Holy Cross will look to bounce back on Wednesday, February 18, as the Saints travel to Olivet Nazarene. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.