The no. 2 Holy Cross women's basketball team is set to duel no. 1 Boston University in the 2023 PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Women's Basketball championship game on Sunday, March 12 at 12 p.m. in Case Gym. The contest will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network with Jason Knapp (play-by-play) and Julianne Viani-Braen (color commentary) on the call.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT #2 HOLY CROSS (23-8, 13-5 PL): 

• Holy Cross is surging picking up their fifth consecutive victory defeating no. 3 Lehigh 71-54 Thursday evening in the Hart Center Arena. Junior Bronagh Power-Cassidy scored a career-high 27 points shooting 62.5% (10-of-16) from the field and 50% (5-of-10) from deep matching career-highs in three-point conversions (5) and blocks (4). Freshman Simone Foreman scored 15 points off the bench notching 13 of those markers in the third quarter.
• In the conference dance, Power-Cassidy paces the Crusader attack averaging 19.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game on 53.8% (14-of-26) shooting and 50.0% (7-of-14) three-point efficiency. Three other Crusaders (junior Janelle Allen, Foreman, and junior Cara McCormack) are averaging double figures.
• Head coach Maureen Magarity picked up her 50th win at Holy Cross Thursday evening. Magarity is 50-27 (.649) as Crusaders head coach and has the second best winning percentage in program history.
• Holy Cross has held both opponents in the league tourney (American, 44, Lehigh, 54) to under their scoring defense average (54.5). The Crusaders rank 15th in the NCAA in scoring defense and are 46-4 (.920) when holding opponents under 60 points a game under coach Magarity.
• Senior guard Addisyn Cross, the first two-time Patriot League All-Defensive Team selection in program history has held American's Kayla Henning and Lehigh's Mackenzie Kramer to 4.0 points per game on 2-of-16 (12.5%) shooting in both Crusader victories. 
• In the second half during the Patriot League Tournament, Holy Cross has outscored their opponents 83-to-45 and 42-to-19 in the fourth quarter.
• The 23 victories for the Crusaders tie for the third most in program history. Holy Cross has six 23 win seasons, one 24 win season and one 25 win season.  
• In two games against BU this season, sophomore Lindsay Berger is averaging a team-leading 15.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals per game shooting 63.6% (14-of-22) from the hardwood.

HOLY CROSS IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT:

• The Crusaders have won a conference-best 11 Patriot League championships and have appeared in the championship game a conference-high 19 times since the league's inception back in 1990-91. The last time the Crusaders won the conference title was during the 2006-07 campaign earning a 56-48 win at home against American.
• Holy Cross last appeared in the Patriot League Championship game in 2013-14, the third of three consecutive appearances. Since the 2006-07 season, the Crusaders are 0-4 in championship games.
• Overall, Holy Cross is 49-20 (.710) in the Patriot League Championship tournament. They hold an 11-7 (.611) record during the championship round. The Crusaders are 22-14 (.611) when playing on the road in the conference dance.
• In the history of the Patriot League tournament, the no. 2 seed has a 1-10 (.090) record against the no. 1 seed in the title game.
• Holy Cross is 1-0 (1.000) against BU overall in the Patriot League Tournament winning their only matchup on the road, 72-70 on March 11, 2019.

SCOUTING THE #1 TERRIERS (24-7, 17-1 PL): 

• The regular season champion Terriers are coming off an 84-68 victory in overtime against no. 5 Army West Point on Thursday night. BU used a 16-to-0 extra period to advance to the conference championship game. Caitlin Weimar had a huge double-double with 21 points, 14 rebounds and five assists while Maren Durant added a double-double of her own with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
• BU picked up a pair of Patriot League major awards with Weimar being named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and Melissa Graves earning Coach of the Year honors.
• Led by three Patriot League All-Defensive Team student-athletes, Weimar, Sydney Johnson and Maren Durant, the Terriers rank 30th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (36.5) which is tops in the conference and 31st in scoring defense (57.4).
• Weimar is one of three players in the Patriot League to average a double-double with 15.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. The Patriot League first team choice ranks 10th in the NCAA in field goal percentage (60.9).
• The Terriers rank third in the NCAA in three-point percentage (39.4%) and their long range attack is led by Patriot League third team selection Alex Giannaros who is the NCAA leader in three-point percentage (53.2%).
• Against the Crusaders this year, Johnson is the leading scorer averaging 13.0 points in two contests on 38.5% (10-of-26) shooting.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT:

• BU has yet to win a Patriot League Championship since joining the league in 2013. They are currently 0-1 in the conference title game falling to Lehigh 64-54 on March 14, 2021 at home. This is their second appearance in the conference championship game.
• Overall, the Terriers are 7-8 (.467) in the league championship tournament. In Case Gym, the Terriers are 7-2 (.778).

LAST TIME THEY MET: 

• Holy Cross is 21-14 (.600) in the series history against Boston University dating back to 1975.
• In the last meeting between the two programs, the Crusaders pulled off a 57-53 win at home to snap the Terriers 17 game winning streak. Sophomore Lindsay Berger scored a career-high 22 points with four rebounds on 10-of-16 (62.5%) shooting.
• The Crusaders are 10-8 (.556) in Case Gym against the Terriers.

UP NEXT: 

• The winner of this game will receive the Patriot League automatic bid to the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.

FOLLOW THE CRUSADERS 
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