No. 2 seed Michigan opens its March Madness run as 41.5 point favorites against No. 15 seed Holy Cross in a Friday evening 5:30 p.m. matchup on ESPN2, hosted at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor. Here’s more behind-the-scenes information about their first opponent.
Key Opponents
Holy Cross enters the matchup on a nine-game win streak, including a Patriot League Tournament Championship victory to clinch its berth in the NCAA Tournament. The No. 2 seed Crusaders defeated No. 4 seed Lehigh in the final, 77-70,
to clinch their third conference tournament title in four seasons.
Looking back at Holy Cross’ schedule — the Crusaders rank 148th in the NET — they went 0-1 against Quad 1 teams, 0-3 against Quad 2, 3-3 against Quad 3 opponents, and 13-8 against Quad 4 opponents. In comparison, Michigan is ranked sixth in the NET with a 9-6 Quad 1 record, and a combined 16-0 against Quads 2-4.
Against common opponent Harvard, the Crusaders lost 61-46 on Dec. 3, while the Wolverines defeated the Crimson 84-55 on Nov. 9. Holy Cross’ Power Five matchups included a 91-48 loss to NCAA Tournament No. 3 seed Duke (No. 8 in the NET) on Nov. 9, while the Crusaders defeated Boston College (244th in the NET), 72-71, on Nov. 3.
“(Michigan’s) not the same as Duke, but in terms of just their athleticism, their talent, we can kind of draw from them,” Holy Cross head coach Candice Green said. “When it comes to teams in the Patriot League, I would say they got a couple kids that can shoot it like Lehigh, they can press like Navy, right. We’ve been saying they press like Navy on steroids, right. So, yeah, we’re ready in terms of what to expect, but obviously when you go against a team like this you’re never truly ready until you step on the court.”
While these results are from nonconference play, Holy Cross went 17-4 in Patriot League play, finishing second in the regular season and winning the conference tournament.
Players to Watch
Holy Cross is powered by a senior duo, guards Kaitlyn Flanagan and Mary-Elizabeth Donnelly and forward Meg Cahalan. Cahalan and Flanagan were both named to the Patriot League All-Tournament team, with Flanagan named tournament MVP after averaging 11 points, 6 assists on 50% shooting.
Cahalan is the Crusaders’ leading scorer with 15.3 points per game, also named to the All-Patriot League first team. She has a soft touch in the paint, and crashes the boards for 4.1 rebounds per game.
“Meg has a little jumper that she likes,” North Carolina State guard Zoe Brooks said March 19, about her former teammate at Saint John Vianney High School in New Jersey. “Even though she’s taller, she likes a little jumper. She doesn’t really like going to the block, but she likes a short jump shot, whereas Ashley likes playing more around the rim.”
“Meg is super calm, super confident, and also consistent for us, and I think that her being that consistency for us this entire year is something that we really needed,” Flanagan said. “… She’s never one to shy away from taking a big shot, even if there’s pressure on it.”
Holy Cross’ second leading scorer is Flanagan, an All-Patriot League second team guard and two-time All-Patriot League selection while starting in every game in her college career. Flanagan averages 9.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, while leading the Crusaders with 4.2 assists per game. She also leads in minutes and is second in steals.
“She’s been our starting point guard since she was a freshman and just her leadership is something that I cannot speak enough about,” Cahalan said. “We’ve talked about it before. She’s definitely our coach on the court, and just her calmness and her ability to just know the game is something that I’ve never seen before, something that I’ve never played with.”
The Crusaders are composed primarily of seniors, with Cahalan and Flanagan leading the way. The duo are Holy Cross’ captains, and bring two prior March Madness experiences to the court. Playing Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes close in Iowa City in 2024 — trailing by two after the first quarter and only losing one quarter by more than five points — was a formative experience for the Crusaders, and they bring composure under pressure to Ann Arbor. The experienced Holy Cross group versus the Wolverines’ young core will be a matchup to watch.
“At its best, we’re defending and we’re getting stops,” Green said. “We talk about this a lot as a team, you can control the shots you dictate, you can’t necessarily control if your shots go in. Obviously we could put in the time and we can get the reps, but at the end of the day sometimes the basketball gods are just mean that way, right. So for us we’re all about getting stops, being great on the glass, and then pushing tempo when we can.”
Keys to the Game
Holy Cross averages 61.3 points per game and on average, outscore opponents by 4.5 points. They boast the nation’s 19th-ranked scoring defense at 56.8 points per game. In comparison, the Wolverines average 83.6 points per game and surrender just 63. As a defensive task, the Crusaders must slow Michigan’s fast-paced, dynamic offense and mitigate the turnovers the Wolverines typically generate.
“They’re a tremendous defensive team,” head coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “They hold teams in the 50s, and we try to play in the 80s. So it’s going to be interesting whose pace will win out. … As much as we’re talking about the pace of our offense, our offense is predicated by our defensive intensity and by our defensive pressure. That pressure allows us to force people to make mistakes, and those mistakes get us some easy buckets which leads to points in the 80s.”
Similarly, Holy Cross acknowledged that managing the Wolverines’ fast-paced, high-tempo transition offense will be critical.
Flanagan summarized the keys for Holy Cross in order to pull off the improbable:
“The press is going to be tough to beat,” Flanagan said. “If we can handle the press and limit our turnovers in the press, that will be a big step for us.”
“Candice (Green), our coach, is talking about, we’re not going to be able to set the pace, but I think managing pace is going to be big for us as well. We’re going to have to play to their speed and their style, but if we can know once we get the ball, is this a good time to push the ball or is this a good time, hey, we really need to slow it down and get a great possession right now, that’s going to be huge.
“… In the half court defense, it’s going to be knowing personnel for us. If we can really hone in on the scout that we’ve done all year and really being good at knowing personnel, if we can put those things together in a really, really good way, that gives us a shot to be in the game at the end, I think.”
Granted, limiting turnovers, managing pace, and containing the Wolverines on the glass is a tall order. But with the correct combination of events, the Crusaders’ game plan is geared in the right direction.
Michigan is focused on sticking to its game plan, which involves imposing staunch, aggressive defensive pressure while running in transition. The Wolverines want to play with a balanced offense, relying on a variety of offensive threats to find success.
“I think they’re a team that you can definitely speed up,” sophomore guard Mila Holloway said. “I feel like that’s a good first game to come back into. If you can come in and play Michigan basketball, try to turn them over early, play fast and kind of find our identity again. …Trying to find our pace and doing a better job of going into things offensively, being more aggressive on the defensive side. Just, I feel like we’re a team who likes to set the tone, and we haven’t been doing that the past few games, so just kind of trying to get back in our rhythm, in that sense.”
Overall, look at pace of play as a key for Michigan to control in up-tempo fashion to run the Crusaders for 40 minutes.
Outlook for Michigan
The Wolverines outpace the Crusaders in most statistical categories, earning a 99 percent chance to win from ESPN’s game predictor. Michigan’s 83.6 point per game average while allowing 63.0 outmatches Holy Cross’ 61.3 point per game offense. Historically, No. 2 seeds are a perfect 124-0 in games since 1985 against No. 15 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, with just 10 games being decided by single digits. With 41.5 point favorites and third-team AP All-American guard Olivia Olson leading the way, expect Michigan to handle business as the host team Friday night.
