The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team held on to pull off an 85-82 upset in an East Coast Conference battle at NYIT. Samantha Burden led the charge with 25 points while Jenna Erickson added 24 for STAC, which improved to 10-14 overall and 6-9 in the ECC, with NYIT dropping to 15-6, 10-4.
With the victory, the Lady Spartans now sit just one-half game behind idle Molloy College for the sixth and final ECC Tournament playoff berth, and the win over the third-place Bears could be a major asset for STAC should a tiebreaker be necessary.
STAC's offense started slowly, with the hosts building an 11-6 lead after nearly five minutes of play, but when it arrived it did so in a big way. Kristin Olsen reeled off seven points and Burden added six as the Lady Spartans reeled off an amazing 19 points in a span of just over four minutes, grabbing a 25-18 lead.
Dina Ragab's two free throws capped a 10-1 run to briefly put the Bears back on top, but Burden's torrid 9-of-11 first half performance led a hot-shooting Lady Spartans squad to a 48-39 halftime edge.
Audrey Knowlton hit a pair of foul shots to close a 21-8 burst as NYIT rallied to take the lead at 60-58 with 11 minutes to play, but Erickson and company come up big down the stretch to help secure the victory. The Bears would rally in the waning seconds to draw within two points, but Erickson and Olsen converted big free throws to seal the win.
Olsen added 12 points for STAC in her second game back from injury, and KC Sokolski came off the bench to contribute nine points and nine rebounds. Julie Williams led five scorers in double-figures for NYIT, with Ragab and Knowlton adding 15 each. The Lady Spartans shot an impressive 8-of-17 (47%) from beyond the arc, while the Bears stayed in the affair with 22-of-26 (85%) shooting from the foul stripe.
The Lady Spartans return home for another big ECC showdown when LIU Post visits Aquinas Hall on Saturday, February 14. The women's game starts off the double-header action at 1:00, followed by the men's teams hitting the floor at 3:30.