It could be a bit of separation anxiety, but she is still young, so as long as you keep her crate a positive space for her, it shouldn't develop in to anything severe, and her crate will be her happy, personal space.
Sinatra has extreme separation anxiety...to the point where he was in an indestructible crate in his foster home as he was breaking out of a regular one and hurting himself on the wires.
Now that he is in our home, he is in a regular crate. He has managed to break out twice, but for the most part resorts to howling and crying for hours on end.
A couple things I have been doing to work on the anxiety:
-He eats in his crate. Not only does he associate food (positive) with the crate, it prevents a bullying opportunity from Kesler
-Every night i stuff a Kong with soft food, kibble, cookies and seal it up with peanut butter and put in the freezer. I put him in his crate about 15-20 minutes before I leave. If he has been calm for at least 10 minutes, he gets the Kong in his crate. This distracts him for a while and he doesn't seem to notice (or care) that I am leaving.
-When I come home, I don't immediately go and let them out of their crates. I spend at least 10 minutes getting settled. If he is howling and crying, I will ignore him until he calms down (harder for me than him). When I do let him out of the crate, I don't make a big deal about the fact that I am home. It is part of a daily routine and nothing to get overly excited about that I am home.
-Like you, if I need a break, I will put them both in their crates for a bit (especially useful when trying to clean the house!) If they are calm for a while, I will give them a treat (while still in the crate).
- I never let him out of the crate unless he is calm. If he starts acting up and I let him out, he will start to figure that all he needs to do to get let out is kick up a fuss.
Even if Bandit doesn't have separation anxiety yet, I feel that these practices can help her realize that being in the crate isn't a bad thing, and that crying and fussing is not a guarantee of being taken out to get attention. Kind of like letting a human baby "cry it out".
Hope she takes the hint!