PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Holy Cross women's basketball team earned its fourth straight victory with a 83-71 win over Brown on Sunday, Dec. 1.

Senior Lauren Manis had 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Crusaders (4-1). Senior Megan Swords had a double-double of 20 points with 12 rebounds. Senior Kathryn Pedi had a career-high 18 points going 6-for-6 beyond the arc, while senior Madalyn Smith had a career-best nine assists to go with eight points.

Justine Gaziano had 24 points for Brown (3-5), while Ashley Ducharme and Maddie Mullin were both in double figures with 11 points each.

The Crusaders out-rebounded the Bears 47-31 and shot 10-for-13 from 3-point range. Holy Cross did not trail at any point in the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Crusaders jumped out to a giant advantage in the opening frame, aided by 11 first-quarter points by Swords and three 3-pointers by Pedi. After Brown got its first points of the game with a layup to make it 4-2, the Crusaders had nine unanswered points, capped by Pedi's first three of the game, to go up 13-2. The Bears had a layup with 5:25 left to stop the run, but Holy Cross continued to cruise, adding eight straight points for a 21-4 advantage. Manis had back-to-back layups to give Holy Cross a 25-10 advantage, and another 3-pointer built the Crusaders' lead as high as 19 points, 29-10, in the first.
• Holy Cross led by double figures the rest of the way, though Brown pressured in the second quarter. The Crusader lead stood at 20, 42-22, with 3:26 left in the half after a fastbreak layup from sophomore guard Avery LaBarbera on a nice bounce pass by junior guard Jenay Faulkner. The Bears responded with an 11-3 run over the next three minutes; Swords closed out the quarter with a jumper with three seconds remaining to give Holy Cross a 47-33 lead headed into halftime.
• Brown cut within 13 points again, 60-47, before Pedi hit back-to-back threes to put the lead back at 19 with 1:50 left in the third.
• Holy Cross' lead grew as high as 21 points after a 3-pointer from Smith made it 72-51 with 8:27 left. The Bears outscored the Crusaders 20-11 over the remainder of the contest, but could cut no closer than 10 points with 33 seconds left.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Pedi's 6-for-6 day from 3-point range set a school record for most 3-pointers in a single game without a miss, besting Brianna McFadden's 5-for-5 showing on Feb. 7, 2009. Pedi is one of just eight players in Holy Cross history to shoot 1.000 from 3-point range with a minimum of four attempts in a single game, including Smith, who went 4-for-4 against Loyola on Feb. 9, 2019.
• Pedi's 18-point performance broke her previous career-best of 13.
• Manis moved into the top 10 in program history in career points, surpassing Katie O'Keefe (1999-2003), Kathy Courtney (1993-97) and Cheryl Aaron (1982-87) and now sits in ninth place in Holy Cross history with 1,555 points.
• Manis also now stands alone in second place in program history in double-doubles, with 41.  
• This is the Crusaders' third game this season with more than 80 points. The Crusaders reached the 80-point mark just three times in all of 2018-19.  

UP NEXT:

• Holy Cross returns to the Ocean State for a 7 p.m. matchup at the University of Rhode Island on Wednesday, Dec. 4.