The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team opens the 2020 post-season with an East Coast Conference semi-final battle against #4 seeded Molloy College at 12:00 noon Saturday at the University of the District of Columbia.
========================
For More Information, visit ECC Women's Basketballl Championship Central
The Teams - St. Thomas Aquinas College - The #1 seeded Spartans look to continue their run of tremendous success which includes earning the program's first ECC Tournament Championship two years ago, and following it with Regular Season Championships each of the past two, having split the title with Daemen this season. STAC comes in with a 21-6 overall record, 13-3 in ECC play. The Spartans continue to utilize a balanced attack but Ruth Adams emerged as a standout over the final weeks of the season, standing second in the conference in scoring (14.7 ppg) and fourth in steals (2.1). Missy Sadler (12.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Zaria Thomas (11.7 ppg, 67 three-pointers, 2nd in ECC) have contributed to the team's league-leading 71.2 ppg average.
The Teams - Molloy College - The Lions captured the #4 seed and enter Saturday's play at 21-8 overall and with a 12-4 ECC record, finishing just one game behind leaders STAC and Daemen. Molloy advanced to the semis in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night, turning a one-point, third quarter lead into a blowout on the strength of an amazing 23-0 run en route to a 62-41 win over #5 Roberts Wesleyan. Kadijah Dickson (transfer from Bridgeport) has been the offensive threat with a league-leading 15.0 ppg, while standing fourth in rebounds at 8.3 per contest. Gabriela Aspuru has provided the power in the post, adding 13.6 points per contest. This match-up will feature two of the conference's best defenses, with Molloy leading the circuit in allowing just 52.4 ppg this season.
NCAA Rankings - The Spartans have remained locked into the #7 slot in the NCAA East Region Rankings, while Molloy is in the rearview in the #8 slot and Daemen is just behind at #9. With eight teams qualifying for the NCAA Tourney (3 auto bids for conference champs, 5 issued at-large), each of the top three ECC squads is on the bubble entering the weekend's competition, with only an ECC Championship being a guaranteed ticket. Second-seeded Daemen will take on defending champ New York Tech in Saturday's other semi-final.
Season Series (STAC wins, 2-0) -
Jan 11, 2020, @STAC 72, Molloy 64 - The first battle of the two powerhouses saw Ruth Adams (19 points), Lexi Huertas (19), and Missy Sadler (18) lead the way as the Spartans grabbed a 13-point halftime advantage and held off a second-half surge. Gabriella Aspuru was key in the comeback effort, netting a game-high 20 points.
Feb 5, 2020 - STAC 59, @Molloy 53 - After a nip-and-tuck first half, the Spartans jumped out to a 36-25 lead only to see Molloy draw within just two points before falling short. Zaria Thomas hit four three-pointers in recording a game-high 19 points, with Ruth Adams adding 15 for STAC. Marthe Guirand paced the Lions with 16 points, with Kadijah Dickson adding 15.
What's Next? - The winner of this game will advance to the ECC Tournament Final on Sunday, March 8, at 12:00 noon at UDC. They will take on the winner of the Saturday 2:30 semi-final between #2 Daemen and #3 NYIT. Like STAC, Daemen earned a bye into the semis while NYIT advanced with a thrilling 61-59 home victory over Bridgeport on Wednesday night as Shalie Frierson kept the defending champs alive with the deciding hoop in the final seconds.
The winner of the ECC Tournament Championship receives an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament.