Brendan Grudberg ’28
Staff Writer
The Holy Cross Crusaders’ women’s and men’s basketball teams started the regular season last week, with both squads balancing tough out-of-conference opponents and drastic changes of scenery to their respective teams. While the two squads experienced much different 2023-24 campaigns, both teams began the 2024-25 season with major changes to their rosters—and for the women’s side—the locker room as well.
The Holy Cross women’s basketball program made headlines throughout the school for their second consecutive Patriot League championship last season, a performance which notoriously set them up against the No. 1 seeded Iowa Hawkeyes and WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark. However, following the season, Holy Cross head coach Maureen Magarity stepped down for personal reasons, which forced the Crusaders to find a new head coach. On top of that, Holy Cross graduated its three top scorers. Despite their recent success, the Crusaders’ path to build on that success looked like a difficult one.
So far, the women’s squad has had a respectable start with the new circumstances, splitting their first two games to two non-conference opponents. The Crusaders started the season with a tough home loss to the very respectable Quinnipiac team, 78-74. Quinnipiac had returned a lot of young talent from last season, and came into the Hart Center confident and overcame the home crowd. Kaitlyn Flanagan led the Crusaders with 21 points and 7 assists, team highs in both marks, while Lindsay Berger added 16. Holy Cross shot the ball wonderfully in Candice Green’s first game as head coach, posting a 56% field goal percentage and shooting 6-13 on threes, good for 46%. In fact, they shot much better than Quinnipiac in both measures (39% and 35%, respectively). So what can the lost points be attributed to? Rebounding and turnovers. Quinnipiac snagged 14 offensive rebounds to Holy Cross’ 3, and committed 6 less turnovers over the course of the game. It’s hard to win a game when your opponent attempts 23 more shots than you did, even if you’re converting them at a much more efficient rate.
Despite the frustrating loss, the Crusaders got it done in their second game of the season, winning on the road against UMass-Lowell. This game was the antithesis to their first contest, as the Crusaders overcame inefficient shooting with 15 offensive boards and 22 forced turnovers. Simone Foreman stood out in this one, posting a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. While the first two games don’t exactly convey consistency, they are proof that Holy Cross can succeed in a wide variety of ways this season, and should do well if they can find a consistent balance. The Crusaders’ road trip continues into this week. By time of print, they will have faced Brown on Wednesday. Tomorrow, November 16, the Crusaders face off against the Vermont Catamounts in Burlington. Holy Cross was able to beat Brown last year, but fell in a close one to UVM. Both teams look to be tough matchups for the Crusaders, and the games should give more indication on what to expect as they approach Patriot League play.
On the men’s side, the Crusaders faced tougher non-conference competition, including a “bye game” in which they traveled up to Wisconsin to take on a Big Ten opponent in the Badgers. Holy Cross started this game off very well, holding a 21-5 lead at one point in the first half. However, it proved to be a mirage. As the first half winded down, the Crusaders’ lead dwindled. Heading into halftime, the Crusaders held onto a narrow 36-35 lead, but ultimately fell by a final score of 85-61. This is no knock on the Crusaders – as teams like them schedule tough out of conference opponents to build experience and prepare themselves for a successful season in conference play. With these lowered expectations in mind, the Crusaders had a very solid showing in this one. The men’s squad had an even more drastic roster turnover than the women, and these newcomers were the primary contributors to the Crusaders’ effort in this game.
Standing out above everyone else was sophomore transfer Gabe Warren, who put up an impressive 23 point outing on 9-13 shooting. Warren was a highly touted recruit in high school who chose to transfer to Holy Cross after spending his freshman season at Rice (TX). The Crusaders shot the ball well in this one (9-24 3FG), but like the women’s team, they lost the rebounding battle and couldn’t consistently stop the Badgers on defense.
Their second outing came against a more even opponent, the Rhode Island Rams of the Atlantic-10 conference. This game was more of the same for the Crusaders, who led by as much as 11 well into the second half, but ultimately fell short in the end. Joe Nugent had the hot hand for the Crusaders, putting up 27 points including seven (!) threes, while freshmen Max Green and Tyler Boston each scored in double figures. The Crusaders’ next matchups will be a part of the College Hill Classic, a tournament hosted at Brown University. In the three day stretch, Nov. 15-17, the Crusaders are set to face off against the 0-3 Sacred Heart Pioneers (Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m.), the 0-2 Brown Bears (Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.), and the 1-3 New Hampshire Wildcats (Nov. 17 at 2:30 p.m.).
Regardless of the first week’s results, there is nothing to worry about for each of the Crusader basketball teams. The women have a solid base of talent and can succeed if they can find a consistent stride, and the men are adjusting to a drastically different lineup than last year and showing very promising flashes out of their newcomers.
Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
Copy Edited by Sophia Olbrysh ’28
Leave a Reply