The Spire

Patrick Grudberg ‘24

Sports Section Editor

Since we left campus for winter break in mid-December, a lot has happened in the world of college basketball. That was certainly true for both Holy Cross men’s and women’s basketball, so let’s use this space to catch up on everything we missed while we were home sleeping till noon, forgetting everything on our final exams, and playing too much Fortnite.

For the women’s team, we sadly missed the most dominant stretch of play in the Maureen Magarity era. Before the team’s loss to Lehigh this past Saturday, the Crusaders were riding a nine game win streak, the longest winning streak in Magarity’s four year tenure coaching the purple and white. That has catapulted the team to a 13-6 record and a 7-1 start in conference play. Not only did the streak solidify the team as the team to beat in the Patriot League, their defense is garnering national attention. As of Sunday night, the Crusaders ranked 4th in the country in scoring defense, allowing only 52.6 points per game. This is a huge advantage on nights when the offense might not be running on all cylinders. During the nine game winning streak, they were allowing 50 points a game. That’s as good an insurance policy you’re going to find for offsetting an off night shooting the ball. As the cliche goes, defense travels, and their smothering style has served them well in the past month or so.

Arguably the most important and impressive victory during the streak was last Wednesday’s matchup at home vs American. Last season, the Eagles came into the Hart Center and beat the Crusaders in an overtime thriller. Magarity and all her players have continually stressed how much they value defending their homecourt and that was apparent while fighting back from a ten point deficit. Bronagh Power-Cassidy led the way with 22 points, and the defense stepped up once again to limit American to 48 points. Then, on January 29th, the Crusaders defeated the Boston University Terriers in a rematch of the Patriot League Championship game ten months ago. Before the game, the Terriers sat two games behind Magarity’s league-leading squad, so a win would certainly solidified their grasp over first place even further. Soon, they’ll head down to Washington D.C. for a rematch with American, which will be another key game down the latter stretch of the regular season.

Before shifting to the men’s team, let’s take a moment to shout out some individual performances so far this season. Although it has been a true team effort so far, the main standout has been senior Bronagh Power-Cassidy. The Irishwoman has taken the Patriot League by storm, sitting at 4th in points per game with 15.3 per contest. She continues to display her ability to score at all levels, shooting 36% from three, 43% from the field and 72% from the foul line. Add around 5 rebounds a game to that stat line, and she is making a real case for Patriot League Player of the Year. Another player worth mentioning is sophomore guard Simone Foreman. The Maryland native is arguably the team’s most improved player, going from zero starts to starting all 19 games this season. She has excelled in her larger role this season, contributing 7.1 points per game and a team-leading 9.1 boards a night. Finally, with Addisyn Cross graduating last season, sophomore guard Kaitlyn Flanagan has stepped up as a reliable ball-handler in the backcourt. She leads the conference in assists (4.6 per game) and assist to turnover ratio (2.7), and is a part of arguably the best backcourt in the league alongside senior Cara McCormack.

Turning our attention to the men’s team, it has been a season of steady improvement under the leadership of first year coach Dave Paulsen. The team lost a close contest to Lehigh last Saturday, and they’ll have had a challenging matchup with Boston University by the time this article is published. However, there have been some bright spots that are worth mentioning. At the very end of winter break, the Crusaders rattled off two wins in seven days at Lehigh and home vs Loyola Maryland. Despite sitting at 5-16 and 2-6 in league play, they are only a game out of 6th place. Avoiding the dreaded play-in round of the conference tournament (7v10 and 8v9) would be a huge step towards rebuilding this program and escaping the bottom four of the conference for the first time in six years. Everybody remembers the team’s huge 68-67 win at Georgetown in early November, so we know the team has the potential to get hot as we get closer to March. And, after a huge home win against BU on January 29th, the team may be doing just that.

The most promising aspect of this otherwise challenging season has been the play of the freshman class. Forward Joe Nugent has started all 21 games and provided a dangerous three point threat alongside some tough defense down low. With such a small frontcourt, Nugent is often asked to guard bigs three to four inches taller than him. But the Massachusetts native has looked up to the task so far. In recent games, guard Deandre Williams has emerged as a solid contributor in the backcourt. He displays a true knack for getting to the rim along with some timely deep shooting, and he’ll certainly be a stalwart in the backcourt in the coming years. Kahlil Singleton and A.J. Wills have also provided key minutes off the bench, with Wills pitching in a season-high 12 points in the win at Lehigh. Finally, center Declan Ryan has shown flashes in limited minutes, utilizing his strong frame in the paint and even knocking down a few threes. All of this indicates that Coach Paulsen’s team has a bright future ahead. As he said before the season, he would not be surprised if five freshmen play significant minutes for the team. That has more or less been the case so far.

To wrap things up, you can’t tell the story of this season without senior guard Joe Octave. He racked up 33 points and 11 rebounds in the upset win over the Hoyas and currently ranks 4th in the league in scoring at 15.4 per game. He always seems to create space to get his shots off, and he’ll need to keep up the impressive campaign if the Crusaders want to close out conference play with a bang. I speak for everyone at the Spire when I say we’re rooting 1000% for these two teams, and here’s hoping for more success in the last five weeks of the regular season!