John Bohnenkamp for Pen City Current Sports
BURLINGTON — Natalie Randolph was a solitary figure underneath Holy Trinity’s basket during a possession in the second half, but none of her teammates noticed.
Finally, after a couple of waves of her hands, Randolph yelled, “I’m wide open!”
She got the pass, and the layup, but it was that kind of night for the Crusaders’ offense.
The 61-57 overtime loss to Notre Dame on Tuesday was the first of the season for the 15th-ranked Crusaders (5-1 overall, 4-1 SEI Superconference South Division), but even with a stagnant offense, Holy Trinity still had a chance to win the game until the final seconds.
Lauren Krieger’s two free throws with 1.8 seconds left in overtime sealed the win for the Nikes (4-1, 4-1).
“We stalled the ball way too much on offense,” Holy Trinity coach Tony Johnson said. “We got out of sorts. They played a hard 2-3 (zone), people weren’t shooting when they were wide open. And if you’re not going to shoot to open up the lane, it’s not going to happen.
“You can cut as much as you want, you can screen as much as you want. But you’ve got to hit some outside shots.”
Mary Kate Bendlage, Holy Trinity’s leading scorer this season, led the Crusaders with 22 points. But her last field goal of the game was at 3:42 of the third quarter, and after she made two free throws 27 seconds later she would not score again until late in the overtime.
“It was us,” Johnson said when asked if Notre Dame had done anything to take Bendlage away. “It was us. We were off from the start to the finish.”
The Crusaders forced overtime when Teagan Snaadt drove to the basket for a layup with six seconds left. The Nikes had a chance for a game-winning shot, but Krieger’s layup attempt missed at the buzzer.
Holy Trinity took a 52-50 lead to open overtime on Presley Myers’ two free throws. Notre Dame then took the lead with three free throws sandwiched around two missed 3-point attempts by the Crusaders.
“We didn’t hit too many outside shots,” Johnson said.
Raegan Holvoet’s layup with two seconds left got the Crusaders within 59-57, but Krieger was able to clinch the win at the line.
“They made their free throws, and we missed a few,” Johnson said.
Randolph added 15 for the Crusaders. Snaadt and Myers, who fouled out early in the overtime, each had seven.
Krieger finished with 21 points for the Nikes. Taryn Stephens had 16.
Holy Trinity returns home after a four-game road swing to play Van Buren on Friday.
“I told them we’re 5-1, and we have 15 (regular-season) games to go, and you can’t let one game define you,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a long way to go. It was great to be undefeated and all of that, but this can be a wake-up call for everybody. You’ve got to bring it every night.”
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