Photo by Luke Zayas/True To The Cru
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — Behind an offense that shot over 47 percent and a defense that allowed its fewest points in a game this season, UMHB women’s basketball closed its Connecticut trip on a high note Monday afternoon, giving head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir her 100th career victory.
The Cru overwhelmed the University of St. Joseph (CT) on both ends of the floor in the 74-42 win, bolstered by a 33-point second quarter, as UMHB posted its largest margin of victory in the 2025-26 campaign. Novak-Lenoir reached the career milestone in her ninth year as a head coach, which opened at Sul Ross State and included a one-year stint at Hawaii Pacific, before spending the last three seasons leading The Cru.
UMHB may have boarded its flight to the Northeast with an eight-game losing skid in tow, but the Crusaders will make the return trip with a two-game win streak, having gotten off on the right foot in Saturday’s 64-58 win at Coast Guard. The Cru has now won consecutive games for the third time this season, and heads into Saturday’s American Southwest Conference opener at ETBU with plenty of momentum. Six games remain on the regular season slate, all of which are conference matchups.
Just as she did in Saturday’s victory, Josie Bruder emerged as the key catalyst for UMHB’s scoring attack, tallying 20-plus points for the third straight game. The senior forward finished two points shy of her career-high—set last Tuesday against St. Thomas—with 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Bruder connected on five of her eight 3-point attempts, accounting for 71.4% of The Cru’s scoring production from beyond the arc.
Bruder got the Crusader offense going with a short-range jumper two minutes into the first quarter, and had 19 points by halftime. The Plano, Texas native connected on her first 3 of the afternoon with 5:57 in the opening period, knotting the score at 7-7, but really took charge in the second quarter as part of UMHB’s game-shifting 22-3 run. Bruder had 12 points in that four-minute stretch, including nine straight on four consecutive possessions, as her layup with 4:36 left extended the UMHB advantage to double digits for the first time.
Natalia Galvan had an equally significant role in The Cru’s offensive surge, sparking the run by going 2-for-2 at the free throw line in what was then a one-possession game. The freshman guard provided the assist on Bruder’s 3-pointer about a minute later, then hit a 3 of her own with 3:33 until halftime. She got another 3 to fall with 22 seconds left, following Bruder’s layup on The Cru’s previous trip down the floor.
Galvan’s second trey of the quarter pushed the lead to 50-23 at the intermission, marking UMHB’s first opening half of 50 points or more since Jan. 13, 2024, when the Crusaders had 53 in the first two quarters of a 108-96 win at McMurry. Galvan had 15 points in 25 minutes off the bench, going 7-of-8 at the free throw line in addition to a 2-of-5 mark from 3-point range.
The visitors from Belton picked up right where they left off in the third quarter, pulling ahead by 31 within the first 3 1/2 minutes. USJ turned it over on each of its first five possessions of the second half, as UMHB’s defensive intensity held the Blue Jays scoreless for the first 3:56. Rachel Okoye got a pair of layups to fall in that span, and The Cru went up 63-27, with the senior guard adding to what turned out to be her 11th double-digit scoring performance of the season.
Okoye finished with 18 points, but perhaps more importantly, was responsible for a team-high seven assists. It marked the Houston native’s third-straight contest with at least six assists, and played no small role in UMHB tying this season’s single-game assists high, with 19 on 30 made field goals.
The Crusader defense held USJ to just six points in the third quarter, leading 65-29 with 10 minutes left. The Blue Jays shot 3-of-7 from the field in the 10 minutes coming out of halftime, but also turned it over nine times. USJ had 26 turnovers in total—the second-most by a UMHB opponent this season—with The Cru producing 21 points off those turnovers.
UMHB cruised to the final buzzer in the fourth, its lead never dipping below 32 and widening to as many as 40 on Okoye’s layup with 7:01 to play.
Alongside Bruder, Galvan, and Okoye, The Cru had a fourth scorer in double figures. Sophomore forward Kayla Johns-McGarity, playing in only her second game as a Crusader, scored 10 points off the bench, shooting an efficient 5-of-8. In the span of four possessions late in the second quarter, Johns-McGarity scored on layups three different times, giving her team a 45-23 lead. She also grabbed three rebounds, two of which came on the offensive end.
With its non-conference slate in the books, UMHB returns to Texas with Saturday’s 1 p.m. duel at ETBU as the next immediate focus. ETBU, 14-4 overall, is 5-2 at home this season and coming off a Connecticut trip of its own, where the Tigers beat Salve Regina and St. Joseph (CT) this past weekend. UMHB heads to Marshall seeking its first win over the Tigers since Dec. 9, 2023.
