Following three straight wins to close out non-conference play, the Holy Cross women's basketball team opens Patriot League play on Wednesday, Dec. 31 at Bucknell with opening tip slated for 1 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion in Lewisburg, Pa. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (6-5, 0-0 Patriot League):

• The Crusaders used a big second and third quarter to roll past UMass Lowell with a 78-56 victory on Dec. 21 at the Hart Center Arena.
• Things were deadlocked at 19 apiece after one before Holy Cross outscored the River Hawks by a 40-20 margin in the second and third periods to take control of the game.
• Junior guard Kendall Eddy sank buzzer-beating threes at the end of both quarters and had 14 points (4-of-5 3PT) to go along with a career-high eight assists, while senior forward Meg Cahalan added 14 points of her own.
• Fellow senior Simone Foreman tallied 11 points and junior Janie Bachmann had 10 points to round out four Crusaders in double figures.
• Head coach Candice Green's team shot a season-best 55.7% (34-of-61) from the floor and tallied 28 assists on the 34 made field goals. The 28 assists were the most in a game for Holy Cross since recording 30 in a win over Connecticut College on Dec. 7, 2023.
• Eddy's eight assists surpassed her previous career-high of four that had been set on two occasions and senior guard Kaitlyn Flanagan dished out seven of her own in the victory.
• On the season, Flanagan paces the Patriot League in assists (4.1 apg) and ranks second in assist/turnover ratio (2.6).
• The Crusaders have allowed 65 points or less in six straight games. As a team, they lead the conference in defensive rebounding (27.5) and rank second in total team rebounds (36.4).
• Junior guard Hannah Griffin buried a pair of threes in the win en route to a career-best eight points.

BISON BITES (4-7, 0-0 Patriot League):

• Bucknell most recently defeated Division III foe Gwynedd Mercy by a score of 102-26 on Dec. 20 as the Bison eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time since 2002.
• Tuana Coskun matched a single-game program record with eight threes en route to a career-high 33 points and Isabella Casey added a career-high 17 of her own.
• On the season, Coskun is the team's top scorer at 12.4 ppg, while Reese Zemaitis checks in at 11.6 ppg. Casey is the team's top rebounder at 4.4 rpg.
• The Bison boast the second-best scoring defense in the Patriot League at 57.5 ppg and has allowed 65 points or less in nine straight games.
• Overall, Bucknell had dropped four straight prior to the victory over Gwynedd Mercy.

LAST TIME THEY MET:

• Holy Cross swept the season series against Bucknell in 2024-25 with victories of 63-37 (Jan. 15 in Worcester) and 67-60 (Mar. 1 in Lewisburg). In the latter meeting, senior Lindsay Berger matched her career-high with 22 points as the Crusaders outscored the Bison by a 20-13 margin in the third quarter to take control of the game.
• The Crusaders have won seven straight meetings dating back to Dec. 30, 2022 and lead the all-time series by a 54-26 margin.

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