Balanced scoring leads Holy Cross past Lehigh 77-70 for Patriot League’s bid to March Madness

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Kaitlyn Flanagan, Meg Cahalan and Simone Foreman all scored 16 points to lead second-seeded Holy Cross to a 77-70 victory over No. 4-seed Lehigh on Sunday to win the Patriot League Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Crusaders advanced to March Madness for the 15th time. Holy Cross and Lehigh have won five of the last six Patriot Championships.

A 3-pointer by Flanagan gave Holy Cross a 63-53 lead with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. Lehigh got within 69-63 in the final minute, but Holy Cross went 8-for-8 at the line in the final 40 seconds.

Belle Bramer scored 24 points and Leia Edwards had 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists off the bench for Lehigh (17-14). Lily Fandre added 10 points.

Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly scored 12 and Kendall Eddy had 10 points for Holy Cross (23-9). Foreman added 12 rebounds.

Holy Cross led 17-11 after one quarter and the Crusaders pushed their lead to 32-20 with about four minutes left in the first half. A couple of mid-range jumpers by Fandre and a 3-pointer from Edwards got Lehigh within 32-27 at halftime. Flanagan led Holy Cross with nine points and four assists in the first half.

Back-to-back jumpers by Cahalan followed by a layup from Flanagan put Holy Cross up 54-45 in the final minute of the third quarter.

The last top seed to win this tournament was American University in 2015.

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