WEST POINT, N.Y. — Holy Cross women's basketball head coach Maureen Magarity earned her first victory at the helm of the program as the Crusaders cruised to an 80-46 victory at Army West Point on Saturday, Jan. 9.
Going up against Magarity's father, Dave, the head coach at Army West Point — in what was believed to be the first father-daughter coaching matchup in Division I history — Holy Cross used a team effort and capitalized on 25 Army turnovers to post the 34-point win.
Five Crusaders finished in double figures, led by junior guard Avery LaBarbera, who had 23 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guard Bronagh Power-Cassidy finished with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, and two blocks. Sophomore Addisyn Cross had a career-high 11 points and four steals, while junior forward Madison Demski matched a career high with 10 points. Junior forward Oluchi Ezemma fell just short of a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Holy Cross notched 31 points off of Army's turnovers, while also out-rebounding the Black Knights by a 40-25 margin. The Crusaders outscored Army 45-21 in the second half.
Kaci Helmick led the way for Army with 13 points, while Taylor Sullivan had 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- With Army leading 5-2 early, LaBarbera had a pair of free throws and Power-Cassidy hit a 3-pointer to take a lead with 7:26 to go in the first. The Crusaders would not relinquish the lead at any point from there, with Cross scoring and Power-Cassidy notching a layup off a steal from Demski.
- The Black Knights cut within four, 11-7, but freshman guard Cara McCormack had a 3-pointer and a jumper to push the Holy Cross lead to nine with 2:36 left in the quarter.
- Army came within 21-19 with 6:00 to go in the second, but the Crusaders outscored the Black Knights 14-6 to close out the half, capping the scoring with a 3-pointer by Demski and a steal and layup by Cross to lead 35-25 at the half.
- LaBarbera and Power-Cassidy hit back-to-back threes out of the gate in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 16 points and forcing an Army timeout just 1:11 into the frame. Army got a 3-pointer out of the timeout, but LaBarbera converted on an and-one and then hit a layup to put Holy Cross up 18 with 6:09 left in the third.
- In total, LaBarbera had 14 third-quarter points – including a fastbreak layup with 1:12 left in the quarter to push Holy Cross' lead to 24. Ezemma added in a layup to give the Crusaders a 28-point lead heading into the fourth.
- The Crusaders continued to dominate in the final frame, outscoring the Black Knights 17-9. Power-Cassidy hit another 3-pointer to make it a 34-point game with 4:42 left; the lead grew as high as 39, 80-41, after Cross made two free throws with 1:30 left.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Holy Cross had five players in double figures for the first time since a victory over Boston College on Nov. 13, 2019.
- Army's 25 turnovers are the most that Holy Cross has forced in a single game since Feb. 1, 2017, when they forced 27 against Colgate.
- This marks the first time the Crusaders have scored 80 points in a game since an 82-61 win over New Hampshire on Dec. 22, 2019.
- Holy Cross has recorded 40 rebounds in back-to-back games.
UP NEXT:
- The Crusaders and Black Knights will close out the weekend series on Sunday, Jan. 10 in Worcester.
- Tipoff at the Hart Center is set for 3 p.m.
