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Women's Basketball
When the Holy Cross women’s basketball team was 6-6
on Jan. 9, a ninth Patriot League Championship Title appeared
unlikely, and hopes for a return to the NCAA tournament were
diminishing. But those six losses—to nationally-recognized
opponents—fueled a fire unprecedented in the College’s
Division I history. The 2002-03 team reeled off an incredible
string of six consecutive wins and 18 victories in the next
19 contests, good for a seventh-straight Patriot League Regular
Season Title. The Crusaders also won their ninth Patriot
League Tournament crown and returned to the NCAA Tournament,
complete with a 13 seed—its highest seed ever in the
modern 64-team format. But even without those accolades,
this 2002-03 squad was always special. During the season,
Coach Bill Gibbons earned his 358th career victory. That
gave Gibbons more wins than any other men’s or women’s
basketball coach in Holy Cross history. He now owns 380 career
victories, averaging 21.1 wins per season. Moreover, under
Gibbons’ tutelage, the team earned its ninth-consecutive
20-win season—15th overall in his tenure. Katie O’Keefe ’03 (Stratham,
N.H.), who started every single game (123) since her arrival
on Mount St. James, fronted the “winningest” class
in the history of the Holy Cross women’s basketball
program.
O’Keefe, along with Liz O’Connor ’03 (Wethersfield,
Conn.) and Becky Flynn ’03 (Furlong, Pa.) compiled
91 victories in their four years with only 32 losses. O’Connor
registered 30 three-point field goals in her final year at
Mount St. James, one less than her three-year total prior
to this season. As strong as the senior class is, the newcomers
did not disappoint either. Sarah Placek ’06 (Alexandria,
Va.), Shannon Bush ’06 (Doylestown, Pa.), and Jessica
Conte ’06 (Scarsdale, N.Y.) all reached the 100-point
plateau. Placek, the five-time Patriot League Rookie of the
Week and 32-game starter, was the first first-year student
to start at point guard since Veronica Jutras earned the
nod in the 1996-97 season. Placek’s gutsy play, including
a team-high 100 assists, earned her a spot on the Patriot
League All-Rookie Team at season’s end beside teammate
Shannon Bush. Maggie Fontana ’05 (Barrington,
Ill.), Lisa Andrews ’05 (Concord, Mass.) and Caitlin
Agostinacchio ’05 (Bellmore, N.Y.) combined for
the best shooting percentage of any class this season (53.0
percent). Along the way, Fontana was named Patriot League
Tournament MVP and First Team All-Patriot League. She also
was named Winter Homecoming MVP and was selected as the conference
Player of the Week. Fontana paced Holy Cross in points and
steals (73). Andrews averaged 7.4 points and 3.0 rebounds
while recording a season-best 36 blocks this season. Agostinacchio
was a walk-on this season who appeared in 14 games, scoring
seven points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Mary Rose Campbell ’04 (Richmond, Va.), a Patriot
League All-Tournament selection, had the distinction of being
the only Crusader to post double-doubles in back-to-back
games (American, Fordham) this season. Campbell topped the
team in rebounding, averaging 8.1 boards per outing. Patty
Fitzgerald ’04 (Cranston, R.I.) also contributed
valuable minutes off the bench for the Crusaders, averaging
nine minutes per game while shooting 45.8 percent from the
floor.
The team’s march to the conference tournament championship
began with an 80-60 victory over Lafayette in the quarterfinals
at the Show Place Arena. In that contest, three Crusaders
reached double-digits in scoring, led by O’Keefe’s
16 points. Fontana and Conte each added 13 points to help
the scoring effort. The semifinal game proved to be a character-building
step in the road to the title. The Crusaders met rival Bucknell,
which defeated Holy Cross 88-74 in the tournament championship
last season, ending a 61-game win streak against Patriot
League opponents at the Hart Center. This time around Holy
Cross came out on top. O’Keefe scored four points in
the final 2:38 to propel Holy Cross to the 66-63 victory
over Bucknell. Fontana helped complete the Crusader comeback
with 26 points and 13 rebounds, her fifth double-double of
the season and 10th of her two-year career.
In the tournament championship game at the Hart Center,
Campbell stepped up with a double-double in the 78-65 victory
over Army. She was one of four Crusaders to reach double
figures, including Fontana who scored 23 and O’Keefe
and Andrews, who scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. The
victory set the stage for a meeting with the 15th-ranked
team in the country, Penn State, in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament. The fierce PSU defense forced Holy Cross
to shoot a season-low 22.8 percent from the field, leading
Penn State to a 64-33 win over the Crusaders. Andrews came
off the bench to tally10 points in her first NCAA Tournament
game in addition to a game-high four blocks. O’Keefe
totaled nine points and five rebounds, while Fontana racked
up a team-best six rebounds and four steals.
O’Keefe finished her career at Holy Cross eighth on
the all-time scoring list with 1,538 points and ninth in
rebounding with 698 boards. She is one of only five Lady
Crusaders to collect 1500 points and 650 rebounds in their
careers. The seniors will be missed as the team looks to
Fontana, who scored a career 800 points in the second-fastest
span (59 games) of any Division I Holy Cross women’s
basketball player, to lead the team in the future. Holy Cross
finished 24-8, a team that came a long way and continued
to show why the program is one of the top in the Northeast.
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