When the Holy Cross women’s basketball team went to the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Kaitlin Foley was a reserve center averaging 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.
The 2003 Bethlehem Central High School graduate is now an integral part of a Crusaders squad that is headed back to the NCAA Tournament after beating American University 56-48 in last Wednesday’s Patriot League championship game. Holy Cross received its seeding Monday night, and as Foley predicted earlier in the day, the Crusaders will meet top-seeded Duke.
We know we’re going to be a low seed because we’re going in with a losing record, said Foley. `We’ll probably wind up playing Duke, who we know a little about. We didn’t play them this year, but we played them each of the past two years.`
Foley had a big game for Holy Cross (15-17) against American. The senior center scored 14 points and pulled down a team-high 15 rebounds on her way to being named to the all-tournament team.
`My coach (Bill Gibbons) told us before the game that if we rebound, we would win,` said Foley, who is Holy Cross’ leading scorer with a 13.5 points per game average. `I don’t know where it came from, but I was able to rebound. American led our league in offensive rebounds this year.`
Registering double-doubles is nothing new to Foley, especially when it comes to playing American. She had 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 61-54 victory over American Feb. 17 ` her sixth career double-double.
Foley has been stepping up for Holy Cross since becoming a starter in her junior year. She averaged 14.9 points and 6.1 rebounds during the 2005-06 season ` a season that ended with a one-point loss to Army in the league championship game.
The 2006-07 season didn’t start well for the Crusaders, though. Two of their guards tore knee ligaments in December, and the team struggled through a 1-8 stretch from late December through the middle of January.
Things turned around for Holy Cross Jan. 24 when the Crusaders beat Colgate 75-59 behind 24 points from freshman guard Bethany O’Dell. Holy Cross won nine of its last 12 games to earn its way into the NCAA Tournament.
`The freshmen guards really stepped up,` said Foley. `We really learned how to play together.`
Foley is one of three members of Bethlehem’s 2003 Section II championship team that helped a team reach the postseason this year. Emily Bango was a key member of the University of Rochester team that made it to the Division III sectional semifinals, and Sue Kelly helped Ithaca College reach the Division III regional semifinals.
`We’ve all been very successful in college, and I think that’s due to (former) coach Kim Wise at Bethlehem. She prepared us well for college basketball,` said Foley.
Once her team’s NCAA Tournament run is over, Foley will start looking at her post-collegiate career. She said she wants to continue playing, but hasn’t had time to figure out where.
`I’m hoping to play wherever I can. If it’s overseas, then it’s overseas,` she said.
For now, Foley is looking forward to her next game and savoring one more Patriot League title.
`We have a losing record, so for us to pull this off was monumental,` she said.“
