2023-2024 Women's Basketball Preview
Notre Dame, Ind. Holy Cross College women's basketball coach Tom Robbins is pleased to announce the addition of four freshmen to this year's recruiting class and the schedule release for the upcoming season. The Saints are slotted for 28 regular season contests, with 20 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference matchups.
Click HERE for the entire 2023-2024 women's basketball schedule.
The 2023 recruiting class:
Aneisah Gail, from Dyer, Indiana, prepped at Highland High School. The 5'2 freshman guard joins the Saints after a 17-7 mark in her senior season. She averaged 4.2 points and led her team to the Regional Finals before losing to the eventual state champions.
Jadyn Handley comes to Holy Cross College from local Mishawaka High School. She averaged 9.7 points per game her senior year, leading the Cavemen to an overall record of 12-12.
Lilly Toppen, from DeMotte, Indiana, graduated from Kankakee Valley High School. The 5'9 guard joins the Saints after a 16-7 overall senior season record. At Kankakee Valley, she averaged 12.3 points per game. Toppen was also invited to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) Top 60 Workout this past spring.
Brooke Lindesmith, from Crown Point, Indiana, prepped at Crown Point High School. The 5'9 guard is a 2020-2021 State Champion winner, 21-22 State runner-up and went 14-10 her senior season. During her senior season, she averaged 9.6 points and played in all 24 games.
Trinity Clinton joins the Saints after transferring from Loyola University in Chicago. She is the first women's basketball NCAA Division 1 transfer. Clinton reunites with high school teammates Grace Adam and Jordyn Smith at Holy Cross College.
Neva Longhofer and Lauren Morris return for their senior seasons. Longhofer shot 35.3% from the field last season, while averaging 4.4 points per game. Morris scored 8.2 points per game, while shooting 30.1% from the 3-point line.
Holy Cross returns Jordyn Smith, Anna Tallent, and Grace Adams for their junior seasons. A CCAC Second-Team honoree last year, Adams averaged team-bests of 15.4 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game. Smith was awarded CCAC Honorable Mention last season, where she averaged 14.3 points per game while shooting 37.9% from the field. Anna Tallent appeared in 25 games for the Saints, while averaging 2.2 points per game.
The Saints return three sophomores, including Audrey Tallent, Elizabeth Edmonds and Carly Spradling and red-shirt sophomore Kayliana Hammel. Audrey Tallent is back for her second season after appearing in all 29 games last year, 20 of which she started, and averaged 6.8 points per game. Edmonds averaged 4.5 points per game and 3.5 rebounds per game and appeared in 20 games, five of which she started. Spradling 7.8 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game, she played in 29 games and started 23 of them. After missing the 2022-2023 season due to injury, Hammel returns for the Saints. The 5'7 guard averaged 6.5 points in her freshman season.
The Holy Cross women's basketball team begins their 2023-2024 season on Saturday, October 28th when they host Huntington University in a non-conference matchup. The Saints begin their Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play on November 21st where they will head to Chicago, Illinois to take on the Roosevelt University Lakers.
The Holy Cross College Saints compete in eight intercollegiate sports for men and women. Holy Cross has produced 244 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Academic Team honors and 114 All-Conference members, and seven NAIA All-Americans. Founded in 1966, Holy Cross College is a Catholic, residential, coed, four-year institution of higher learning, offering an applied liberal arts curriculum. The mission of Holy Cross College is to educate and form global citizens with the competence to see and the courage to act.