Crosier, Team Effort Lift Short-Handed Drury Girls

LENOX, Mass. -- Cassie Crosier scored 12 second-half points Thursday to help the Drury girls basketball team defeat Lenox, 63-58, on a night when the Blue Devils were without their leading scorer.

 

Crosier knocked down three second-half 3-pointers to finish as one of four Blue Devils in double figures.

 

Hayley Shook led the way with 16, and Alison Felix and Laura Thomas added 15 and 11, respectively as Drury (9-9) won its sixth straight.

 

“Great team win,” Drury coach Ian Downey said. “I can’t give my girls enough credit for how hard they worked tonight. Brooke [DiGennaro] was sick, but I told them that no one will feel sorry for us. We needed other people to step up.

 

“Alison was huge in the second quarter attacking the hoop to give us that [25-23] lead going into the half. Obviously, we’ve had Alison and Hayley come up big in games before, but tonight our captains Laura Thomas and Cassie Crosier had some huge shots in the second half. Both stepped up huge with Brooke out.”

 

Downey said the Millionaires’ press gave his team trouble all night, and the Blue Devils could not contain Alice Najimy, who finished with a game-high 28.

 

“She was knocking them down from outside and when we took that away, she would pump fake and hit a jumper in the lane,” Downey said. “She’s an incredible player, but every time she hit a big shot, our kids would respond with a big shot of our own.”

 

Jade Alward and Nicole Gamberoni backed up Najimy with nine and eight points, respectively.

 

Lenox (6-11) hosts Mount Everett on Monday.

 

Drury goes for its 10th win on Monday when it hosts Lee.