The Holy Cross women's basketball team plays an away game on Wednesday, Jan. 10 for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Patriot League opponent Navy in Alumni Hall. The contest will stream live on ESPN+.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (8-5, 2-0 PL): 

• Holy Cross has won four straight games beating conference foe Army 67-52 on Saturday afternoon in the Hart Center Arena. Three players reached double digits for the Crusaders including senior Cara McCormack who dropped a career-high 22 points with 18 of her 22 markers coming in the first half. Classmates Bronagh Power-Cassidy (17 points, nine in the fourth quarter) and Janelle Allen (12 points) had solid showings as well.
• Bronagh Power-Cassidy was named Patriot League Honorable Mention on Monday. Power-Cassidy led the Crusaders to a 2-0 week averaging 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the field.
• The Crusaders are 6-2 over their last eight contests allowing opponents to average 46.6 points per game and shoot 23.5 percent (32-for-136) from long distance. Holy Cross also has a +11.4 rebound margin in those eight contests.
• Holy Cross boasts one of the top defensive units in the country. The Crusaders rank fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (33.2%), sixth in scoring defense (51.2) and 10th in three point field goal percentage defense (24.4%).
• Per Sports Reference (SRCBB), the Crusaders have four of the top five and five of the top-10 defenders in the Patriot League via defensive rating, sophomore Simone Foreman (1st, 72.0), Bronagh Power-Cassidy (2nd, 78.9), Janelle Allen (3rd, 80.1) sophomore Kaitlyn Flanagan (4th, 80.2), and Cara McCormack (7th, 81.8). Defensive rating or defensive efficiency is a statistic used in basketball to measure an individual player's efficiency at preventing the other team from scoring points.

SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN (4-9, 0-2 PL): 

• Navy has lost three straight contests including a 73-56 loss at Colgate on Saturday. Sydne Watts plated 35 minutes off the bench and dropped 19 points with six rebounds shooting 69.2 percent (9-for-13) from the field.
• On Monday, the Mids' Zanai Barnett-Gay was named the PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Rookie of the Week. Barnett-Gay averaged 17.5 points and 3.5 steals per game last week for Navy. It was the fifth time this year she's been named the conference top rookie.
• Barnett-Gay is the Patriot League leader in scoring (19.2) and steals per game (3.1) which ranks 13th in the NCAA. She ranks second in minutes per game (34.2), fourth in assists per game (3.5), fourth in field goal percentage (44.7%), tied for seventh in rebounds per game (5.8) and tied for 10th in three-pointers per game (1.3).
• As a team, the Midshipmen are tops in the Patriot League in steals per game (9.5), turnovers forced per game (18.0) and turnover margin (+1.46).

LAST TIME THEY MET: 

• Holy Cross is 47-24 (.662) in the series against Navy which began in 1992.
• In their last meeting on Feb. 4, 2023 the Crusaders earned a 71-52 win in Annapolis. Bronagh Power-Cassidy scored a game-high 20 points while Simone Foreman scored 16 points with seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

 
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