WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Junior Gabi Melby erupted for a career-best 34 points Saturday afternoon but it wasn’t enough to fuel a Huntington women’s basketball win as the guests suffered an 81-69 loss to Holy Cross at McKenna Arena.

The Saints (1-0) get-up-and-go style of play eventually got the best of the Foresters in the fourth quarter where they were outscored by eight. The final ten minutes saw what was a four-point disparity heading into the final stanza turn into a double-digit loss for Maggard and crew.

After trading the lead through the first six minutes, the hosts enjoyed a lead the rest of the way with the only exception in the third when HU held a brief 51-49 lead at the three-minute mark thanks to Melby reeling off seven points in a two-minute span.

Despite being saddled with foul trouble, Olvia Raby tossed in 11 points, eight of which came from the line, as Huntington’s only other double digit scorer. Emily Seboe finished with six boards to lead her team in rebounds. Laura Valiente-Marin paced HU defensively with three steals.

As it turned out, Holy Cross had several keys to success. In addition to taking advantage of 16 offensive boards to the tune of 23 points, they also held their guests to 36.8 percent shooting (21-for-57) while canning 45.7 percent of their own shots (32-for-70).

Grace Adams spearheaded the Saints’ first outing by pouring in 29 points in addition to snaring 12 boards, half from the offensive glass. Lauren Morris put up 21 points while Kayliana Hammel added 13.

The Foresters (0-2) have a two week break before hosting the Forester Classic on November 10-11.