Amherst, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team fell short in its quest to win the ECC Women's Hoops Tournament Championship, as the Spartans suffered a 66-51 defeat at the hands of Daemen University on Sunday afternoon at Lumsden Gymasium in Western New York.

STAC slips to 21-8 on the year and now awaits the decision makers on the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball East Regional Committee to determine their D2 Tourney fate. Meanwhile, Daemen improves to 20-4 and earns the automatic bid into the big dance, as a result of their victory.

Sarah Ericson paced the Spartans' offense with 16, while Alexa Huertas (11 points) also scored in double-figures for the maroon and gold. Gabbie McDuffie led all scorers with 17 points for Daemen. 

St. Thomas Aquinas shot 31.6% percent from the field (18-57), while Daemen shot 42.3 percent (22-52) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Nine Spartans recorded double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Erin Leary and Alexa Huertas led the Spartans with two assists apiece on the afternoon.
• Sarah Ericson made 5 of her 10 field goal attempts, while Huertas went 5-for-22 from the floor.
• St. Thomas Aquinas out rebounded Daemen 40-33 in 40 minutes of action, with Sarah Ericson grabbing a team-high seven boards for the Spartans.
• STAC picked up 11 seven steals in the contest, with Daemen turning the ball over on 13 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned one advantage in team statistical categories over the Wildcats: Second Chance Points (8-4).
• The game featured eight ties and 22 lead changes.
• Sarah Ericson and Erin Leary were each selected for the All-Tournament team.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Spartans built a quick 4-0 lead on the strength of early buckets from Alexa Huertas and Sarah Ericson.
• Daemen answered back with four straight points of their own to tie the game, but an Erin Leary jumper and Huertas trey put STAC up 9-4 at the midway point of the first quarter.
• An 8-2 run by the hosts gave them back the lead at 12-11.
• Sarah Ericson connected from downtown with less than a minute to play in the stanza to flip the scoreboard back in favor of the Spartans, 14-12.
• A five point streak by Daemen to close the quarter, gave them a 17-14 advantage through 10 minutes of action.
• The Wildcats opened the second quarter by hitting yet another three-pointer to extend its advantage to six (20-14).
• Erin Leary, Karolina Jaruseviciute, Sarah Ericson and Angelique Holguin racked up nine consecutive points to put the Spartans back ahead, 23-20 with five and a half minutes to play before halftime.
• Daemen continued to battle and were able to retake the lead (27-25). However, Kaitlyn Watrobski's jumper tied things at 27 all.
• The sides traded baskets down the stretch, flipping the scoreboard on multiple occasions over three minutes of play in the quarter.
• With STAC up one (33-32) on an Alexa Huertas jumper, Daemen went down the court and scored on their final jump shot of the half to lead 34-33 at the break.
• Sarah Ericson paced the Spartans' offense with 10 first-half points, while Gabbie McDuffie led all scorers with 11 points for the Wildcats.
• When the teams returned to the hardwood for second-half action, Daemen quickly scored on back-to-back trips down the floor to extend their lead to six, 39-33.
• STAC cut the deficit to four (39-35) on a Sarah Ericson bucket, but seven straight points by the Wildcats pushed the margin to 11, at 46-35 with 3:26 to play in the frame.
• The teams continued to answer each others offensive outputs, with Daemen maintaining double-digit leads to the third quarter buzzer. The Wildcats held a 12-point advantage, 53-41 going into the final quarter of play.
• Three Daemen free throws and a layup to start the fourth quarter, gave the hosts a 58-41 advantage with nine minutes remaining in regulation time.
• Julia Reggio and Trinity Cheatom answered back with two free throws and a layup, respectively to get the game to 58-45 with just under six minutes to play.
• Down 10 (59-49) with three minutes left on the clock, STAC attempted to preserve time left the game by fouling. However Daemen would go 6-of-8 from the charity stripe to make it 65-49 with under a minute to go in the championship contest.
• A pair of Cheatom free throws would be the last points of the game for the Spartans, as the Wildcats added one more point via a foul shot to secure the 15-point victory.

UP NEXT:

St. Thomas Aquinas awaits its tournament fate from the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Selection Committee, which will be announced later this evening (10:30pm) at NCAA.com. The East Region tourney will get underway next weekend (March 10-13) at Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts.