Congratulations to the Holy Cross women and coach Bill Gibbons, headed back to the dance after a 79-70 win over Colgate in last night's conference final.

It's HC's 10th league title, the second for seniors Lisa Andrews and Maggie Fontana, who each had 16 in the title game win.

After going 13-15 last season, the 'Saders first losing season in Gibbons 20 years a coach, the two seniors have led the team to a 20-10 mark headed into the NCAA Tournament.

Having covered a number of HC women's games during their careers, it's nice to see good things happen to two good ladies who have both worked hard to overcome adversity. They have both had knee problems, and Fontana's knees, which have been operated on after each of the past two seasons, have probably cost her what might have been a shot at the WNBA.

Fontana was the league's rookie of the year ger freshman season and first team all league (and tournament MVP) as a sophomore, when the only thing between her and player of the year honors was Bucknell's Molly Creamer, the only Patriot League player ever drafted by the WNBA.

At that point in her career, the biggest difference between Fontana and Creamer was that Creamer was a senior and Fontana a sophomore. Talent wise they were very, very close. It was easy to project Fontana being a Creamer-like dominating force her last two seasons.

Then came the knee problems. Even hobbled and often in pain, Fontana was better than most in the league. She was not the dominating force expected after her sophomore season, but she was still good enough to be a second team all-league pick as a junior and this season regained first team honors.

Andrews was named the tournament MVP. Fontana joined her on the all-tournament team.
Box score | Boston Herald.com | Milford Daily News (almost the same story as the Herald) | Boston Globe