The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team captured a convincing 82-68 victory over Nyack College in a non-conference game at Aquinas Hall. Kate McCue led four Lady Spartans in double-figures with 15 points. STAC improves to 1-1 overall, with Nyack dropping to 1-2.

Defense was the name of the game in the early going for St. Thomas Aquinas, with the front court tandem of KC Sokolski and McCue providing some big point production. STAC held the visitors off the board for the first three minutes of play and grabbed a 5-0 lead.

Nyack rallied to tie the score at 8-8 but STAC embarked on a 22-12 outburst to grab a 10-point edge. Freshman Jenna Erickson added a pair of buckets and a McCue free throw in the final minute of the half gave the Lady Spartans their largest lead at 43-30, which they held at the break.

STAC threatened to pull away as a Sam Burden jumper gave the hosts a 49-32 lead early in the second stanza, but the Warriors held tough, pulling to within 49-38 on a Jamie McKeither jumper. That would only be a bump in the road, however, as a pair of Sokolski free throws capped a 9-1 run midway through the half, giving STAC a comfortable 19 point edge at 58-39 and they would cruise from there.

McCue's 15 points paced STAC, with Alyson Brennan (14), Erickson (13) and Sokolski (11) pacing the balanced attack. McKeither was the offensive force for Nyack with a game-high 20 points.

The Lady Spartans will now bid aloha to the continental United States, embarking on a trip to Hawaii that will see STAC play three games in as many days. On Wednesday, November 26, action starts against Chaminade, Thursday sees a tilt with Hawaii Pacific, and the sojurn wraps up with Hawaii Hilo on Friday. They then open the East Coast Conference slate at Molloy on December 3.