The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team held on for a big 59-55 victory in an East Coast Conference game at Daemen College. Jenna Erickson led the charge with 20 points, while Kate McCue added 14 points and 13 rebounds. STAC improved to 8-9 in conference play and 12-14 overall, dropping Daemen 7-9, 10-12.

Most importantly, the win moves the Lady Spartans 1.5 games ahead of idle Molloy College for the sixth and final ECC Tournament berth with just one week to play. Molloy hosts NYIT tomorrow, Saturday with STAC facing Roberts Wesleyan.

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Six lead changes punctuated the early minutes before a pair of Erickson three-pointers highlighted a 14-5 STAC run, giving the visitors a 23-15 lead with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Shy Britton's jumper brought the Wildcats to within 27-25, but the Lady Spartans would score eight of the half's final 10 points - closing with another Erickson trey - to grab a 35-27 lead after 20 minutes.

Both teams struggled to find the hoop in the second half, with STAC going scoreless for nearly four minutes, but Daemen only able to trim the deficit by two points. St. Thomas Aquinas was the first to emerge from the doldrums, and yet another Erickson bomb put her squad up 47-36 with 12:21 to play.

Erickson was on the spot again, hitting a trey to give STAC a 54-45 lead with 8:44 left, but the hosts would turn up the defense and make a serious run. The Lady Spartans would go scoreless over a span of more than seven minutes, yet four different scorers could only bring Daemen to within 54-53 on a pair of Natalie Galus foul shots with 3:51 left.

Daemen would come up empty on its next three possessions with a chance to claim the lead when Erickson struck for the sixth and final time from behind the arc, making the score 57-53 with 1:20 left. Samantha Burden would extend the lead with a layup and the Lady Spartans would ride out the frantic final seconds with a big road victory.

Sara Saba led the way for Daemen with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Britton added 14 in the losing cause. STAC turned the ball over just 10 times to 17 for the Wildcats, in a game that was virtually even in every other stat category.

The Lady Spartans conclude their Western New York Weekend with an ECC battle at Roberts Wesleyan College tomorrow, Saturday, February 21, in a 2:00 pm start. STAC then travels to face Mercy College on Wednesday, February 25, before closing out the regular season at Aquinas Hall against the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, February 28. Senior Day festivities precede the 1:00 pm tipoff.