Holy Cross Crusaders women's basketball

The Holy Cross Crusaders women's basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The team currently competes in the Patriot League. The Crusaders are currently coached by interim coach Candice Green.

Holy Cross Crusaders women's basketball
2024–25 Holy Cross Crusaders women's basketball team
University	College of the Holy Cross
Head coach	Candice Green (interim)
Conference	Patriot
Location	Worcester, Massachusetts
Arena	Hart Center (capacity: 3,536)
Nickname	Crusaders
Student section	TBD
Colors	Royal purple
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament round of 32
1985, 1991
NCAA tournament appearances
1985, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2023, 2024
Conference tournament champions
1985, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2023, 2024
Conference regular season champions
1984, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2022, 2024

History

The Crusaders began play in 1974. They went 0–12, coached by Sharon Dupre in her only season. For their first six years (1974–1980), the Crusaders were in Division III, going 37–60 during that time. From 1980 to 1982, the Crusaders were in Division II, going 43–8 during their two season tenure before making the jump to Division I. The Crusaders joined the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 1983. In their seven season tenure, they won two conference tournaments. In 1990, the Crusaders joined the Patriot League. They have won the Patriot League women's basketball tournament 11 times, the most of any school in the League.

Postseason

The Crusaders basketball team in the 2023 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament

NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship

The Crusaders have appeared in the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship 14 times. Their record is 2–14.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1985	7	Round of 32	Ohio State	L 102–60
1989	9	Round of 48	Temple	L 90–80
1991	11	Round of 48 Round of 32	Maryland Auburn	W 81–74 (OT) L 84–58
1995	16	Round of 64	Colorado	L 83–49
1996	15	Round of 64	Old Dominion	L 83–56
1998	14	Round of 64	Louisiana Tech	L 86–58
1999	14	Round of 64	Duke	L 79–51
2000	15	Round of 64	Rutgers	L 91–70
2001	14	Round of 64	Florida	L 84–52
2003	13	Round of 64	Penn State	L 64–33
2005	15	Round of 64	Ohio State	L 89–46
2007	16	Round of 64	Duke	L 81–44
2023	15	Round of 64	Maryland	L 93–61
2024	16	First Four Round of 64	(16) UT Martin (1) Iowa	W 72–45 L 91–65

WNIT results

The Crusaders have appeared in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) twice.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2002	First Round	Vermont	L 70–63
2022	First Round	Columbia	L 80–69

WBI results

The Crusaders have appeared in the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI) once.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2012	First Round Quarterfinal	New Hampshire Manhattan	W 63–59 L 78–63

Player accolades

MAAC Player of the Year

• 1985 – Janet Hourihan
• 1987 – Tracy Quinn

Patriot League Player of the Year

• 1991 – Mary Helen Walker
• 1992 – Norinne Powers
• 1993 – Norinne Powers
• 1994 – Laurie Carson
• 1995 – Lauren Maney
• 1996 – Lauren Maney
• 1997 – Kathy Courtney
• 1998 – Amy O’Brien
• 1999 – Amy O’Brien
• 2000 – Anna Kinne
• 2008 – Briana McFadden
• 2021–22 – Avery Labarbra

Coaching history

Coach	Years	Record	Conference Record	Conference Titles
Mary DiStanislao	1974–1975	0–12 (.000)	N/A
Pat Corcoran	1975–1978	21–26 (.447)	N/A
Kevin McAuley	1979–1980	16–22 (.421)	N/A
Togo Palazzi	1980–1985	103–28 (.786)	18–6 (.750)	1
Bill Gibbons	1985–2019	613–410 (.599)	319–125 (.718)	11
Ann McInerney (interim)	2019–2020	26–15 (.634)	18–11 (.621)
Maureen Magarity	2020–2024	51–25 (.671)	34–16 (.680)	1
Totals		808–531 (.607)	376–153 (.711)	13

Season-by-season results

Holy Cross played in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) 1983 to 1990 before joining the Patriot League in 1990.

Season	Record	Conference record
1974–75	0–12	n/a
1975–76	8–7	n/a
1976–77	8–9	n/a
1977–78	5–10	n/a
1978–79	7–10	n/a
1979–80	9–12	n/a
1980–81	20–4	n/a
1981–82	23–4	n/a
1982–83	19–6	n/a
1983–84	20–7	9–3
1984–85	21–7	9–3
1985–86	21–7	8–4
1986–87	19–10	8–4
1987–88	21–8	9–3
1988–89	21–10	10–2
1989–90	20–10	7–3
1990–91	25–6	12–0
1991–92	16–13	10–4
1992–93	22–7	12–2
1993–94	15–14	10–4
1994–95	21–9	12–2
1995–96	23–10	9–3
1996–97	23–4	12–0
1997–98	21–9	10–2
1998–99	21–8	11–1
1999–00	23–7	11–1
2000–01	21–9	11–1
2001–02	23–8	12–2
2002–03	24–8	13–1
2003–04	13–15	8–6
2004–05	20–11	12–2
2005–06	16–14	10–4
2006–07	15–18	7–7
2007–08	19–13	10–4
2008–09	13–17	8–6
2009–10	10–21	5–9
2010–11	10–20	6–8
2011–12	19–15	7–7
2012–13	18–14	8–6
2013–14	20–14	10–8
2014–15	15–17	11–7
2015–16	13–17	10–8
2016–17	8–21	6–12
2017–18	13–18	7–11
2018–19	18–13	9–9
2019–20	19–11	7–4
2020–21	7–8	7–7
2020–21	20–9	14–4
TOTAL	805–530	376–153

External links

• Official website