Briana Sloper led her squad with 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team suffered a road defeat to Molloy College, 55-42. Bianca Kowgios added 10 points for the Lady Spartans.

The setback was the third straight for the Lady Spartans, who fell to 7-6 overall and 1-2 in East Coast Conference play, while Molloy improved to 7-6, 3-0. Jessica DeNicola led the way for the hosts with a game-high 20 points while Amanda Bartlett chipped in with 14.

Molloy bolted from the gate quickly, jumping out to a 13-4 lead over the first six minutes of play. The Lady Spartans then turned up the defense, holding their foes scoreless over the next six minutes and embarking on a 10-0 run to grab the lead. The combatants then took turns holding the edge, with the Lions emerging with a 27-23 margin entering halftime.

STAC struggled to find the range from the floor, and Molloy netted the first four points of the second stanza to increase their advantage to eight. The Lady Spartans showed some fight in cutting the deficit to as little as two, but were unable to find the hot hand from the perimeter as Molloy pulled away in the final minutes. In all, St. Thomas Aquinas shot 0-17 from behind the three-point line.

The Lions shot just 39% from the field overall (10-28) but held STAC to 27% (15-56). Molloy also enjoyed the rebounding advantage by a decisive 45-32 margin.

The Lady Spartans return to action on Saturday, January 7, 2012 as they  travel to Greenvale, New York to take on C.W. Post before returning to Aquinas Hall to face Dowling College in a twin-bill with the men's team on Wednesday, January 11.