DELAND, Fla. – The Holy Cross women's basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Stetson, 75-63, on Monday, Dec. 30 in the Crusaders' final game before conference play.

Senior Lauren Manis had a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, including 11 points in the first quarter, to lead the Crusaders (7-4). Sophomore Avery LaBarbera had 18 points and five rebounds, while senior Madalyn Smith had 17 points, five assists and three steals.

Senior Megan Swords was also in double figures with 11 points to go with seven rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Oluchi Ezemma had double-figure rebounds, at 10, along with six points and a block.

Day'Neshia Banks put on a show for Stetson (6-7) with 32 points on 15-of-24 shooting, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Manis and Pedi hit back-to-back threes to give the Crusaders an 11-5 lead with 6:27 to go in the first quarter. Stetson came back to tie things up at 16-16, and briefly took a two-point lead before an Ezemma layup made it 18-18 with 43 seconds to go in the first.
• In a back-and-forth second quarter, neither team took more than a three-point lead in nearly the first seven minutes. With the Crusaders trailing 28-27 with 3:48 left, Smith went on a 6-0 run by herself off of a 3-pointer and an and-one to give Holy Cross a 33-28 lead. After a basket by Stetson, a three by LaBarbera made it a six-point game.
• Holy Cross fell behind at 6:31 of the third quarter, 38-37, but LaBarbera had seven unanswered points to push the Crusader lead to 44-38 with 4:39 to go in the frame – she had a 3-pointer from the corner, then made a layup and stole the ensuing inbounds pass for another layup.
• Stetson was able to tie the game at 52-52 with 9:07 to go, but Manis scored a three and Smith converted on another and-one to push the lead back to six.
• With Stetson trailing by just two points, junior Jenay Faulkner found Swords for a basket to push the lead back to four. Smith then sunk a 3-pointer, and stole the ball on the other end of the court before passing up to LaBarbera for a fastbreak layup that gave Holy Cross a nine-point lead with 4:14 to go. After back-to-back layups from Swords, LaBarbera had another basket to extent the Crusaders' lead to 13 with 1:47 remaining.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Manis moves into third place in program history as she now has a total of 973 career rebounds. She surpasses Amy O'Brien, who recorded 963 total boards from 1995 to 1999.
• Manis has recorded a double-double in five straight games and eight total times this season.
• LaBarbera has recorded double-figure points in nine games this season.

UP NEXT:

• The Crusaders kick off Patriot League play at Loyola (Md.) on Thursday, Jan. 2.
• Tipoff in Baltimore is scheduled for 12 p.m.