The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team rallied to take a 74-68 East Coast Conference victory at Queens College. Kaitlyn McCue's career-high 18 points led five Lady Spartans in double-figures as her team improved to 10-10 overall, 6-9 in ECC play while dropping Queens to 15-6, 11-4.

Queens - which entered the night just one game out of first place in the ECC standings - jumped out to an early 11-4 lead on the strength of seven points from Joya McFarland. STAC would battle back, with a pair of Sabrina Eggink jumpers capping an 11-2 run to put the visitors ahead, 19-17 midway through the session.

That would be the story of the rest of the first half, which saw the score tied on 10 occasions while neither team would grab a lead of more than three points thereafter. Fittingly, the teams retreated to their locker rooms tied at 34-34 after 20 minutes of play.

Once again, the Lady Knights would start the half strong, reeling off the first six points after the break only to see St. Thomas Aquinas rebound with a 9-2 run to recapture the lead at 43-42. A Kristen Korzevinski three-pointer staked the hosts to a 54-48 lead midway through the half, but the Lady Spartans would charge back with what would prove to be the decisive run.

A bucket by Eggink and a pair of hoops from Alyson Brennan quickly knotted the score for the 11th and final time. Sam Burden followed with a lay-up and Kristen Olsen nailed a trey, capping an 11-0 run to put STAC on top, 59-54 with 7:25 left. It was a lead they would not relinquish. Queens would draw to within two points in the waning minutes, but the Lady Spartans hit 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute to seal the deal.

In addition to McCue's outburst, Olsen (16 points), Burden (12), Eggink and Brennan (10 each) rounded out the scoring leaders for St. Thomas Aquinas. Queens also had five scorers in double-figures, with Melissa Gardner's 16 points setting the pace.

With just five games to go, the victory kept the Lady Spartans' playoff hopes alive. They now travel to face Molloy College in a big showdown on Saturday, February 15 at 12:00 noon before playing three of their final four regular season games at Aquinas Hall. That starts with NYIT paying a visit on Wednesday, February 19 at 5:30 pm.