NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: FIRST ROUND - HOLY CROSS VS MARYLAND

March 16, 2023

Bronagh Power-Cassidy

Janelle Allen

Addisyn Cross

XFINITY Center

Holy Cross Crusaders

Media Conference

Q. How was your travel experience to College Park?

ADDISYN CROSS: Yes, so we took a bus (inaudible) long one, but we made it down here. And it was a lot of fun on the bus, we played some games, so we made it a fun experience.

JANELLE ALLEN: It was pretty lengthy but we made it worthwhile, we played games. When we were done, seemed shorter than it actually was.

BRONAGH POWER-CASSIDY: Yeah, throughout the season we've gone on a couple long bus journeys within our own league and the Patriot League. One of our teammates, she got a dog so it was taking a nap the entire ride.

Q. What games did you play, what movies did you watch?

ADDISYN CROSS: Yeah, so we played CatchPhrase, which that was a lot of fun, and then one of our teammates also bought the little mini travel size Bop It! games.

JANELLE ALLEN: Me personally, I did homework, but I know some of our teammates watched Hunger Games.

BRONAGH POWER-CASSIDY: A couple of us are on a crime doc kick, so whatever was on Netflix.

Q. How many hours did it take?

ADDISYN CROSS: I think we left at around 3:30 and I think after stopping for food, I think we got in around 10:00 ish, yeah.

Q. And what's it like to finally be here and to be ready to play your first NCAA game on Friday?

BRONAGH POWER-CASSIDY: I think we're all just so excited for this opportunity. I know even since our championship game Sunday, the excitement's just been at an all time high. So we're all just really excited and grateful to be here for a great opportunity.

JANELLE ALLEN: Yeah, I would agree. I think a lot of girls dream to be in our position. The fact that we are lucky enough and we have the ability to be here says a lot and we're really excited. We can't believe it and we're still on cloud nine so we just can't way to play tomorrow.

ADDISYN CROSS: Yeah, it's such a surreal experience, I think we're just so excited to represent the Patriot League and Holy Cross and the state of Massachusetts. So I think we're just really excited about the opportunity. It's a dream come true. Walking into that locker room and being able to get your little swag bag is something that you see on Instagram and media all over. So it's just a surreal experience, you couldn't ask for anything better.

Q. What would you call Holy Cross ball?

ADDISYN CROSS: I think just team, just being a team. I think we all have each other's back and I think that's what makes our team so unique. We have team chemistry on and off the court. Just having each other's backs and playing for each other and with each other is something that Holy Cross basketball and the Patriot League stands for.

JANELLE ALLEN: I would agree. Every day we go to huddle, we say "family" so with family comes ups and downs and a lot of communication. I think this year definitely proved that we overcome a lot. Our bonding on and off the course, as Addi said, is amazing. We love each other, we're with each other every day. I just think that Holy Cross basketball is just family.

BRONAGH POWER-CASSIDY: They both said it, I think we're just such a tight knit group on and off the court and it's reflected on how we play. We just play together and play for each other.

And I think the exciting thing about this team is like anybody can step up and have a good day. We have a lot of different weapons on offense and defense, so I think and we're all proud of each other regardless of who's having their day, so I think it's just a really tight knit group.

Q. You mentioned a little bit of some adversity and ups and downs. What were your challenges getting here this year?

BRONAGH POWER-CASSIDY: I think as a team we just, in our season we came out really strong and then kind of in the middle of the season, I know the Patriot League, it's a tough competition, there's a lot of teams who can win a game on any given night. I think there were a couple games that were tied, we had a couple overtime losses. I think just to come over that hump and kind of ride it out. The rest of the season we really just got on a roll and started playing our best basketball at the end of the season so I think coming together as a group through the wins and losses throughout the season and just having that kind of experience and learning, because we are a young group. We have four great freshmen this year so I think just having them be able to learn through those games just really came with an advantage for us later in the season.

JANELLE ALLEN: She's the only senior. Like Bronagh said, we are a young group, so coming to practice and games every day, we learn a lot every single day. It's a learning curve every time we step on the court. We just had to overcome anything that came at us. As Bronagh said, we had a hump in the road but we got over it and we're here today and honestly cannot wait to play.

ADDISYN CROSS: Kind of going along with that, being a young team, I think we definitely we graduated four seniors last year, four seniors that contributed a lot to the program, so I think at the beginning of this year we had a lot of questioning like what our identity is going to be on this team. I think starting out the season, we were able to do that. But after we hit that little bump in the road, I think just being able to get back to the basics and stay together was really important for us.