The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team rolled to a 60-41 triumph in a non-conference contest at Aquinas Hall. With the victory, the Spartans - ranked #5 in this weeks D2SIDA East Region poll - improved to 11-3 overall while #6 New Haven dropped to 10-3.

Six lead changes punctuated a tightly-contested first quarter as Brie Pergola's desperation three-pointer in the final second gave New Haven a 16-14 lead. The Chargers extended the margin to 20-16 on a pair of Jasmine White foul shots with 7:38 remaining in the half but the Spartans caught fire from there. STAC's tenacious defense created several turnovers and five different Spartans contributed to a 15-3 explosion, staking the hosts to a 31-23 advantage at intermission.

Missy Sadler scored STAC's first seven points in the third quarter and the momentum continued as UNH registered just five points in the session as the lead ballooned to 50-28 with 10 minutes left as the Spartans cruised to the win. Sadler led all scorers with 22 points while Ruth Adams' eight steals contributed to the 32 forced turnovers for the evening.

The Spartans return to East Coast Conference play this Saturday, January 11, for a big showdown with Molloy College starting at 1:00 pm. That game is the front end of a double-header, followed by the men's teams squaring off at approximately 3:00 pm.