East Coast Conference Player of the Week Briana Sloper netted 13 points and Briana Cook added 12 as the St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team erased a 13-point halftime deficit to top visiting Queens College, 45-40. The win is the Lady Spartans' third straight and fifth in their last six games.
The visitors stunned the cold-shooting hosts in the first half, finishing an inartistic first 20 minutes with a 25-12 lead. After hitting just five first half field goals in 33 attempts (15%), STAC stormed back after the break, posting 11 straight points in just under four minutes to trim the margin to two. The Knights answered back with six straight points of their own to reestablish a cushion at 31-23, but a focused Lady Spartan squad was not to be denied.
STAC reeled off 18 of the next 20 points to grab an eight-point edge of their own down the stretch to claim the decision. Catherine Pastor led the way for Queens with game-highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds.
While their overall shooting percentage was far from stellar (29% on 18-63 shooting), the hosts helped themselves by turning the ball over only 11 times. Queens shot 31% (17-55) and dominated the battle of the boards by a 50-35 margin. With the victory, STAC improves to 5-3 on the season and 1-0 in East Coast Conference play while Queens drops to 1-6, 0-1.
Tonight's contest was the first of three straight for the Lady Spartans in the friendly confines of Aquinas Hall. Next on the dance card is STAC's first-ever ECC hoops tilt against University of District of Columbia as the DC contingent visits Sparkill this Saturday, December 10 (1:00 pm), as the start of a twin-bill with the men's team's following. One week later LeMoyne College pays a call on December 17, again at 1:00 pm, followed by the men taking on Rockland Country rival Dominican College. If you can't be there in person to be part of the Aquinas Hall Edge, you can catch all the video online via New Media Television Sports and follow along with our new Live Stats feature - just click the appropriate links on the team schedule page.