The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team saw its nine-game winning streak snapped in the East Coast Conference final, as Dowling College earned a 59-54 decision in Flushing, NY. The Lady Spartans finish the 2011-12 campaign with an 18-11 record. Dowling's place in the field of 64 was all but assured before they earned the ECC's automatic bid, as the Golden Lions improved to 22-6 in winning their second conference crown and first since 2003.
STAC freshman Ashley Motrechuk led all scorers with 18 points, Briana Sloper added 12 and Shpresa Liharevic posted 11 along with a game-high 11 rebounds. Julia Koppl paced Dowling with 17 points (including four threes), Sarah Schicher added 13 and Seja Gamble recorded 10.
A whirlwind week that started with a home playoff victory, proceeded with the Lady Spartans being well-represented in the ECC's post-season awards, and continued with a thrilling run to the finals, ended in a disappointing but memorable title clash.
St. Thomas Aquinas started its playoff run with a 67-56 victory over Molloy at Aquinas Hall on Wednesday night. At Friday night's East Coast Conference Awards Banquet in Queens, Sloper was rewarded with First Team All-Conference honors, and Bianca Kowgios was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, on top of taking home Second Team All-Conference kudos. Motrechuk was also recognized, earning a slot on the ECC's All-Rookie team. The Lady Spartans took the floor at FitzGerald Gym at Queens College on Saturday, where they upended the #2 seeded University of District of Columbia, 63-61, setting the stage for the showdown with Dowling.
As expected in the battle between teams that split their season series, the opening minutes were hard-fought as a Motrechuk layup gave the Lady Spartans a 9-8 lead at the 14:37 mark. Dowling went on its first run of the day, with the defense clamping down and Schicher and Simmons sparking an 8-0 spurt to give the Golden Lions a 16-9 edge. They would increase that margin to as much as 10 points, but a late Sloper free throw drew STAC to within 29-23 after a hotly-contested 20 minutes.
The Lady Spartans emerged from the locker room as an inspired bunch, with a Kowgios layup, a Sara Oliviera trey, and a Motrechuk bucket putting STAC ahead just 1:21 into the second stanza. The top-seeded Golden Lions would display their poise, however, stemming the tide with a 10-0 burst that would put them ahead to stay.
Still, St. Thomas Aquinas showed the heart of a champion and refused to go down without a fight. Dowling - which posted a dominant 70-53 victory in the semi-finals against CW Post just 24 hours earlier - sported a 52-44 cushion, just 1:29 away from clinching the title. Sloper, playing her final collegiate contest, tried valiantly to pull her team back, hitting a free throw at the 1:19 mark and burying a three with just 55 seconds left to make it a four-point contest.
Dowling's Kelly Puwalski was quickly fouled and hit one of two, and Liharevic answered with another long-range shot, drawing her team to within 53-51 with 38 ticks still left. Again, the Lady Spartans would have to turn it into a free-throw shooting contest, at which the Golden Lions prevailed by sinking their final six shots at crunch time to take home the crown.
Despite the disappointment in the finals, the Lady Spartans' season was one to remember. At one point STAC held a 7-9 overall record and six straight losses before turning it around with their torrid 11-of-12 win run. St. Thomas Aquinas narrowly missed out on an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, but their tremendous turnaround was a tribute to the heart and determination of the entire Lady Spartan program as they ascended to the 10th slot in the East Regional rankings.
Head Coach Kim Lusk and staff will now have to look to the future, as the program bids farewell to seniors Sloper, Kim Vareles, and Natalie Catavero.
Sloper amassed numerous honors, including ECC Rookie-of-the-Year in 2009, Player-of -the-Year in 2011, and Academic All-Region in 2012, and her 1,885 points while appearing in all of STAC's 114 games over her four seasons is among the many lasting marks she will leave in the STAC record books. After earning a starting slot in her freshman season, Sloper started every game for each of the past three seasons, and led the team in scoring throughout her tenure.
Vareles has been the heart and soul of her team, starting all but one of the Lady Spartans' 58 games over her final two seasons. Despite her willingness to put her body on the line by drawing charges on a nightly basis, she appeared in 112 contests, missing just two games over her four years on the floor, and her determination contributed in ways that can be measured far beyond any stat sheet.
Catavero is yet another four-year senior, and her defensive tenacity made her a key asset for the Lady Spartans in her 101 games played. She was often tasked with matching up with opponents' top scorers, and most often rose to the task as evidenced by her team's frequent standing among the conference's best in overall defense. While not often relied on for point production, she was a more-than-capable perimeter shooter, as her three treys against Molloy in Wednesday's playoff were the catalyst for STAC's victory.
The Women's Basketball Team and the entire Athletic Department at St. Thomas Aquinas College would like to thank our families, friends, fans, and the entire college community for its support throughout the season.