File photo by Luke Zayas/Backwards Hat Media
NEW LONDON, Conn. — Katie Novak-Lenoir’s Crusaders made the 1,800-mile trek to New England with the intent of building momentum before ASC play, getting a pair of newcomers inserted into the mix, and snapping their eight-game losing skid.
One game into the two-game stretch in Connecticut, UMHB (5-13) has already accomplished all three tasks. Led by 21 points from Josie Bruder and stellar efforts from mid-year transfers Danae Gonzalez and Kayla Johns-McGarity, The Cru took down Coast Guard (7-6) on Saturday afternoon, 64-58, winning on the road for the second time this season.
The Cru now has a 2-0 weekend in the crosshairs, heading to West Hartford for a duel at St. Joseph (CT) on Monday. It marked UMHB’s first win since beating Schreiner on Dec. 3, as Novak-Lenoir’s squad finally broke through after back-to-back single-digit losses to open January.
“I am very proud of our entire team today,” Novak-Lenoir said postgame. “We battled back and forth and did what we needed to do to get the job done. Our focus remains on getting better every day and building towards conference.”
Entering the fourth quarter, UMHB found itself in a game tied at 45 apiece, with the hosts having pulled even after trailing 29-22 at halftime. Exactly a week removed from its 23-12 fourth quarter run at McMurry, The Cru found a surge in the last 10 minutes once again, outscoring the Bears by six in the final quarter. That was sparked by a 7-2 run over the first three minutes, capped by a Gonzalez 3-pointer that put UMHB up, 52-47.
Coast Guard knotted the score again on Olivia Wright’s 3 with 5:34 to go, but Gonzalez and Johns-McGarity countered for The Cru, scoring on second-chance opportunities on each of the next two possessions. The lead swelled to 59-52 on Rachel Okoye’s layup with 3:14 left before Coast Guard answered with six straight points, cutting the advantage to one.
But Dorothy Stotts’ 3-pointer at the 1:03 mark was the Bears’ last score, as UMHB’s defense contested three straight missed shots while extending the lead at the free throw line. Natalia Galvan and Josie Bruder combined to go 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the last 20 seconds, sealing a victory in which the visitors from Belton led for 33 1/2 minutes.
In her UMHB debut, Gonzalez hit two key 3s in the fourth quarter, finishing with eight points in 27 minutes. The Cru outscored Coast Guard by 13 when the sophomore transfer from Lamar Community College was on the floor, with Gonzalez adding a pair of steals on the defensive end.
Johns-McGarity also put together an impactful showing in her first game since transferring in from Angelina College, as the 5’11 forward grabbed nine rebounds and finished as UMHB’s second-leading scorer with 10 points. Johns-McGarity had the highest +/- on the team in Saturday’s win, with UMHB outscoring the Bears by 16 in her 21 minutes of action.
The newcomers fit right into the rotation alongside UMHB’s established veterans. Coming off a 29-point performance against St. Thomas on Tuesday, Bruder gave The Cru its first eight points as part of an early 8-2 run, and surpassed the 20-point mark for the third time in 2025-26. The senior forward knocked down four of her eight 3-point attempts and pulled down six rebounds in a team-high 37 minutes.
Okoye wasn’t far behind her, playing 34 minutes. The senior guard dished out six assists along with seven rebounds, four steals, and six points, contributing in a variety of ways. Okoye had the assist on Bruder’s first 3 of the afternoon, scored UMHB’s first points of the second half, and came up with a crucial defensive rebound with 23 seconds left in what was then a one-point game.
Bruder’s hot shooting start paced UMHB in the early minutes, giving The Cru momentum in an umfamiliar road environment. But Coast Guard—the top-scoring offense in the NEWMAC coming into the day—fought back on the offensive end, and tied the score at 10-10 with 1:08 to go. That coincided with a lengthy cold stretch for UMHB, who ended a four-minute scoring drought on Okoye’s layup with 2:03 remaining, and took back the lead with seven seconds left on a Galvan 3.
The second quarter had a similar sequence. Bruder opened with a pair of layups in the first 52 seconds for a six-point advantage, only for Stotts to give Coast Guard an 18-17 lead with 5:46 until the half. Johns-McGarity stepped up with layups on consecutive possessions, though, opening a 12-4 spurt that carried into the break. Gonzalez highlighted the run with her buzzer-beating layup, taking a sideline inbounds pass from Bruder before dribbling behind her back and driving down the lane against Stotts, getting a right-handed shot to fall for a 29-22 lead.
Stotts, the 12th 1,000-point scorer in Coast Guard history, had a team-leading 18 points in the win, six of which came in the third quarter. The Bears managed to erase the halftime deficit in the 10-minute stretch out of the intermission, as Stotts reached the double-digit scoring mark with a layup at the 8:47 mark then added a 3 with 3:03 left. Her 3 pulled Coast Guard within six, and Olivia Wright connected on a 3 of her own 32 seconds later, making it a one-possession game.
Between Stotts’ 3 and Ruby Miller’s shot from beyond the arc with 42 seconds in the quarter, Coast Guard scored 13 of the next 15 points, taking a 45-43 lead. Johns-McGarity tied it up with 13 seconds left, setting up a fourth quarter that saw UMHB outscore the Bears, 19-13.
The Crusaders tallied 30 points in the paint in the contest, a +14 advantage against Coast Guard in that category, in addition to a +4 advantage in assists (11 to 7) and a +1 advantage in turnover margin (15 to 16). UMHB shot 36.9% from the field, its best mark since shooting 41.8% against Trinity on Dec. 18, and connected on at least seven 3s for the sixth time this season.
UMHB’s final non-conference tilt on Monday pits The Cru against a St. Joseph (CT) squad that is 3-10 overall, and coming off a 62-53 win over Elms to open GNAC play. The Blue Jays are led by sophomore guards Sequoia Turcotte Briggs (15.3 PPG) and Ella Kulas (10.5 PPG). Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. CT.
