Sparkill, N.Y. – The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team fell in a tough loss that came down to wire to American International College on Friday evening in its opening matchup at Aquinas Hall. Despite a strong second half effort, the Spartans fell short in an 54-48 contest.

After STAC took an 8-7 lead in the opening quarter, AIC closed out the first half scoring 23 second quarter points to take a 30-24 lead into the halftime break. The Spartans would outscore the Yellow Jackets 11-7 to only trail by two (37-35) through three periods of play. However, American International went on to score 17 of the final quarter's 30 total points, shooting 41.7% from the floor in the final ten minutes of action to pick up their first win of its 2021-22 campaign.
 
Victoria Kurisko was STAC's leading scorer with 10 points. The Yellow Jackets finished with three players in double-digits: Destine Perry (21), Kayla Robinson (12) and Nora Young (11).

STAC HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTES

• STAC Head Coach Bill Cleary made his regular season debut for the Spartans.
• Freshman Sarah Ericson scored seven points on 3-of-11 shooting (1-5 from 3pt.)
• St. Thomas Aquinas grabbed 55 total rebounds on the evening, with Chanel Brodeur-Muir leading the way with 10.
• Four Spartans recorded double-digit minutes in the contest.
• STAC shot 31.6 % from the field (18-57), and 50% from the foul line (11-22) for the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First quarter

• Neither team could find the scoring touch in the opening quarter, with the largest lead being only five points (STAC 8-3 at 4:28).
• STAC managed to shoot 4-of-11 through the first 10 minutes of action.
• Conversely, the Yellow Jackets went 1-of-12 in the first stanza.

Second quarter

• American International used a 10-5 run late in second quarter to pull ahead 30-24 at the half.
• The Yellow Jackets started to heat up, shooting 60.0 percent from the floor in the second and 75 percent from the foul line.
• Victoria Kurisko (3), Jenny Palmer (2) and Chanel Brodeur-Muir (2) lead the Spartans rebounding parade in the quarter.

Third quarter

• STAC had its best shooting quarter in the third, connecting on 41.7 percent of its shots. Erin Leary was 2-of-2 from the floor in the frame.
• However AIC, maintained a two-point lead (37-35) through 30 minutes of action.
• Nora Young led the way for the Yellow Jackets with five points in the quarter, going 2-for-3 and connecting on a 3-ball.

Fourth Quarter

• Victoria Kurisko contributed six points in the fourth quarter, going 3-of-5 from the floor.
• Marist shot 5-of-12 from the field in the final frame, with Destine Perry picking up 12 points.

UP NEXT
STAC (0-1) takes on Dominican College in the finale of the 2021 STAC Conference Challenge on Saturday afternoon at Aquinas Hall. Tip-off is set for 3pm in Sparkill.