The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team captured a 58-45 decision in an East Coast Conference contest at Queens College. The Spartans, ranked #6 in the East Region in the official NCAA Poll released earlier today, now stand at 19-5 overall and 11-2 in ECC play, with Queens dropping to 7-17, 4-10. STAC needs just two wins in its final three games to clinch a first-round bye to the semi-finals of this year's ECC Tournament at the University of the District of Columbia.

St. Thomas Aquinas entered the evening with two straight losses - the first time that has occurred in the regular season since February of 2017 - and the Spartans stumbled out of the gate as Harmony Philo's three-pointer gave Queens a 5-2 edge with 6:32 left in the first quarter. Those were the last points the Knights were to record for the remainder of the first, as Missy Sadler and Ruth Adams hit a pair of hoops each in a 15-0 run to give the visitors a 17-5 advantage through 10 minutes.

An evenly played second quarter saw STAC carry a 31-20 advantage into intermission on the strength of Emily Preston's last-second hoop. While Queens drew to within 33-26 with six minutes left in the third, Sadler added four more points in a 9-0 answer to open a 42-26 gap, which expanded to an insurmountable 47-28 chasm after three quarters, as the visitors cruised to the series sweep.

Sadler led the way with 14 points for STAC, with Lexi Huertas adding 11 and Emily Preston contributing in all areas with seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. Brianne Moxley was the scoring standout for the Knights with a game high 16 point performance.

With only three games remaining in the regular season, the Spartans return to Aquinas Hall to take on New York Tech on Saturday, February 22 in a 1:00 pm tip. They then travel to the University of Bridgeport on Wednesday, February 26, before hosting University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, February 29.