Holy Cross Athletics

Shawna Mell enters her second season as the director of operations for the Holy Cross women's basketball team in 2026-27.

During year one with the Crusaders, Mell helped Holy Cross earn its 14th Patriot League Tournament Championship and its 15th NCAA Tournament Appearance. The Crusaders earned the No. 15 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament and played No. 2 Michigan in the NCAA First Round. Senior guard Kaitlyn Flanagan paced the Crusaders with 16 points and nine assists in the PenFed Credit Union Patriot League Championship game earning Patriot League Championship MVP honors. Senior forward Meg Cahalan would also be named to the All-Tournament Team.

Mell heads to the Heart of the Commonwealth following two campaigns (2023-25) as the director of basketball operations at Lehigh winning the 2025 Patriot League Tournament Championship.

She competed at Concordia University-St. Paul on the women’s basketball team and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee where she graduated with a degree in elementary education in 2023. Mell earned her master’s degree in educational leadership at Lehigh in 2025.

In 2022-23 at Concordia, Mell was named an NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction honoree and NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence She tallied 39 minutes in 10 appearances for the Golden Bears at guard, recording 13 points including a career-high five points against North Central (Nov. 29)  She also added a pair of defensive and an offensive rebound. 

In 2021-22 at Concordia, she was named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. On the court, she appeared in 12 games for the Golden Bears, totaling 67 minutes with an average of 5.6 per game. She had nine rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals.

In 2020-21 at Concordia, Mell  was named to the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence. She appeared in six games for the Golden Bears during her sophomore season. Played a total of 22 minutes for an average of 3.7 per game. Tied her career-high with four points against against Minnesota Crookston (Jan. 2). 

In 2019-2020 at Concordia, Mell played in six games during her freshman season for the Golden Bears. Totaled20 minutes with an average of 3.3 minutes per game. Scored her first collegiate points against Upper Iowa (Feb. 22), putting up a career-high of four points along with four rebounds.