BC a challenge for Holy Cross

Holy Cross women's basketball coach Bill Gibbons said he has mixed feelings about his team coming to Conte Forum tonight to play Boston College.

''I definitely have an affinity for the rivalry," he said, noting the in-state competition. ''We're thrilled to keep it going."

But Gibbons added about the Eagles, ''They seem to have our number," and, indeed, BC has an 18-8 series lead.

The Crusaders (2-2) will have sophomore forward Ashley McLaughlin in the lineup; she missed the first three games of the season with a stress fracture.

''We had three games in five days, so I held her out," Gibbons said. ''But she started [Monday] night and helped us win. We certainly get a lot deeper when she can play."

The other probable starters are Brittany Keil, Shannon Bush, Laura Aloisi, and high-scorer Kaitlin Foley, a junior forward who is averaging 15 points per game. Jessica Conte is first off the bench, and has averaged 29 minutes and 9.3 points.

The Crusaders will be playing the second of a four-game stretch that culminates with a tournament in Arizona Friday. They will play No. 8 UConn next month, and will host No. 1 Duke in January.

''Some people knock me for playing a hard schedule, but it gets us to the Patriot League, and [winning that] is our ticket to the big dance," Gibbons said.

Holy Cross won the Patriot League title for the 10th time last year, and made its 11th NCAA Tournament appearance.

BC (5-1) is coming off an 85-58 win over New Hampshire in the title game of the Wildcat Classic tournament in Durham, N.H., in which senior forward Brooke Queenan was named MVP. She scored 29 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in two games.

But without a doubt, the star of Sunday's game was junior Kindyll Dorsey, who set a school record with 8 3-pointers as she scored 34 points, had 9 assists, and committed just 1 turnover.

Another Eagle who had a breakout performance already this year is sophomore Laura Lokitis, who scored a career-high 22 points against Vermont last week. That was almost as many as she scored all last season (23).

Queenan leads the Eagles in scoring with 12.5 points per game, while center Kathrin Ress and forward Aja Parham average 6.8 and 6.2 rebounds per game, respectively. Junior guard Sarah Marshall has a team-high 27 assists.

''I hope we can play well, but we're a work in progress," Gibbons said. ''We're looking forward to the challenge of playing BC."