Bianca Kowgios continued to wield the hot hand with a game-high 14 points and the defense did the rest as the St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team earned a big triumph at Dowling College, 49-38. The Lady Spartans have now won three straight and five of their last six games as the conference victory moved STAC's record to 12-10 overall and 7-5 in the East Coast Conference. Dowling fell to its second straight defeat, standing at 16-5, 9-2.
With the evening's contest featuring two of the top defensive teams in the country (Dowling 4th, STAC 19th), a low-scoring affair was likely to ensue and the game did not disappoint in that regard. Dowling's Connie Simmons threatened to buck the trend single-handedly, scoring her team's first eight points over six minutes of play and staking the Oakdale contingent to a two-point lead at 8-6. It was at that point that the visitors seized control.
Frustrating the Golden Lions with their zone defense, the Lady Spartans heated up from the field, holding their rivals scoreless over the next 9:45 of play as six different scorers contributed to a 19-point run that put them firmly in control. Dowling responded with the next four points to trim the deficit to 25-12, but STAC would answer with a 9-0 burst to take a commanding 34-12 lead into the halftime break.
The hosts - who saw their perfect conference record snapped in their previous tilt at Bridgeport - displayed intensity of their own after the break and it was St. Thomas Aquinas who was suddenly ice cold, being held scoreless for the first 9:28 and recording just one free throw over the first 10:13 of the second half. The defense would not rest, however, as the Golden Lions were able to post just eight points during that span, leaving STAC with a still formidable 35-20 lead. The offenses would finally begin to find their range, but the hosts were unable to draw closer than nine points thereafter as time elapsed.
Kowgios, who posted a game-high 27 points in Saturday's win over Molloy, completed her busy stat line with 6-of-7 shooting from the field, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals. Briana Sloper and Shpresa Liharevic added nine points each for STAC, while Simmons was held to just 12 points total in spite of her fast start (along with nine rebounds), with Dowling teammates Sarah Schicher and Kelly Puwalski adding 10 points each.
STAC's defense held the Golden Lions to just 22% shooting from the field (10-46) and forced 23 turnovers, while the Lady Spartans connected at 37% (18-49). The rebounding battle was dead even, with each team claiming 36.
Each game will now take on increased meaning for the Lady Spartans, with just two weeks remaining in the regular season. They return to Aquinas Hall to host LIU-Post this Saturday, February 11, with double-header action starting at 1 pm. You can watch all the action live by clicking the link on the schedule and be sure to follow along on Live Stats. They will then travel to face NYIT on February 15 and journey to the University of Bridgeport on the 22nd before hosting Mercy College to wrap up the pre-tournament portion of the schedule on Senior Day, Saturday, February 25.