The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team emerged with a hard-fought 65-59 victory in their East Coast Conference season opener at Molloy College. Jenna Erickson's six treys led to a game-high 19 points for the Lady Spartans who stand at 3-3 overall and 1-0 in ECC play, with Molloy dropping to 3-2, 0-1.

Lead changes were the theme of the night in a game which saw 14 of them - 10 in the first half alone - as well as the score tied on 12 occasions. The first lead of the game in excess of three points came with 2:32 to play in the first half, when Kimani Jackson's layup capped a 6-1 run to give the Lions a 31-26 advantage.

That would account for Molloy's last points of the session, however, as baskets by KC Sokolski and Sam Burden combined with a pair of Adiya Henderson free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Lady Spartans a 32-31 edge at the break.

Defense took over in the early stages of the second half, with Megan Lonergan's bucket for the hosts accounting for the only points over the first three minutes of play. STAC was held off the board for nearly four minutes in total before Alyson Brennan's three pointer tied the score at 35-35.

Foul trouble began to be a factor as Molloy was whistled for the first 10 infractions of the half, though St. Thomas Aquinas struggled from the line to keep the margin tight. Jackson would convert an "and-one" to match the Lions' biggest edge at 46-41 midway through the half, but an Erickson trey would once again tie the score less than a minute later.

Nicole Arnone's jumper deadlocked the score for the final time at 52-52 with 4:11 left, but another Erickson answer from downtown would put STAC ahead for good. Henderson converted a hoop-and-one to give the Lady Spartans their largest lead to that point at 58-54 with 3:07 to play. Molloy would draw to within two points but did not have a possession with a chance to tie the game thereafter.

Sam Burden added 13 points and Henderson chipped in 11 to go with a team-high nine rebounds in the win. Jackson had 14 and Aliyah McDonald recorded 13 for the Lions. Erickson's perfect 6-for-6 from beyond the arc contributed to a stellar 8-of-12 (67%) team total from three point land, enough to offset 26 STAC turnovers to just 14 for Molloy.

After playing their last four straight on the road, the Lady Spartans return to Aquinas Hall for their next contest, this Saturday, December 6. They will open an East Coast Conference double-header against the University of Bridgeport starting at 1:00 pm, with the men's teams taking the floor at 3:30.