Women Win Patriot League

It was another spectacular season for the women's basketball program.  The team won at least 20 games (21-8) for the fifth straight year and earned its third straight Patriot League championship. The 72-58 win over Navy in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament on March 3 earned Holy Cross a #14 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a first round match up with eventual national runner-up Duke. 

In addition to the team's success, a number of individuals earned honors as well.  For the second consecutive season senior captain Amy O'Brien was unanimously selected as the Patriot League Player of the Year.  O'Brien, who is just the second women's player in school history to top the 2,000 point mark and the only one to score more than 2,000 points in Division I action, finishes her career as the Patrtiot League's all-time leading scorer (2,056).  In addition to another stellar season on the court, O'Brien had another fine year in the classroom.  For the second consecutive year, she has earned a spot on the GTE Academic All-America Second Team.  In addition, O'Brien was last year's Patriot League Female Scholar-Athlete of the year and is a likely candidate for both that award and the coveted Crusader of the Year award this season. 

O'Brien was not the only Crusader to be honored this year. Head Coach Bill Gibbons received Patriot League Coach of the Year honors for the second time in three seasons.

Willard is New Coach

Holy Cross athletic director Richard M. Regan, Jr. '76 introduced Ralph Willard '67 as the new head coach of the Crusader men's basketball team. 

"We had a lot of quality coaches apply for this position," Regan said. "And I knew we'd be able to find someone who had demonstrated they could win and would make a commitment to Holy Cross.  We've found that in Ralph Willard."

Willard becomes just the 14th head coach in the 80-year history of the program. The seventh Holy Cross graduate to hold the position, he will also serve as an assistant athletic director. 

Willard, who agreed to a six-year contract, will be asked to turn around a Crusader team that has won just 22 of its 89 games over the past three seasons. He replaces Bill Raynor, who posted a 54-83 mark as Crusader coach over the previous five seasons.