The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team suffered a 64-61 overtime loss at the hands of Pace University in a non-conference contest at Aquinas Hall. Kate McCue led all scorers with 18 points for STAC, which fell to 6-7 overall while Pace won its fifth straight to stand at 7-6.

Defense set the tone early on as Pace's zone frustrated the Lady Spartans, with Margo Hackett's deep three-pointer staking the visitors to their largest lead at 20-11 with seven minutes to play in the first half. That basket capped a 14-5 Setters run, but a late Jenna Erickson trey would spur an 8-0 STAC outburst to trim the margin to one, with the hosts settling for a 24-21 halftime deficiit.

STAC, which had not led to that point, tied the contest on four different occasions after the break until Samantha Lane's three pointer with 12:43 left put the Lady Spartans ahead at 36-33. McCue took charge during her team's run to the lead, which would top out at a 52-47 STAC edge with under four minutes to play.

St. Thomas Aquinas still held a 55-49 lead approaching the two minute mark, but the Setter defense would stand tall again, keeping STAC off the board for the rest of regulation and allowing Gabriella Rubin's hoop with 49 seconds left to send the game to overtime.

The offensive woes continued into the overtime for the Lady Spartans, as they relied on four Erickson free throws to snag a 61-60 lead in the final minute of OT. Gabriella Rubin with hit a bucket to give Pace the lead with 30 seconds left and sister Christina converted a pair of free throws, as Lane's desperation three point attempt came up short at the buzzer.

In all, STAC went the entire overtime session without a field goal, and did not hit from the floor over the final 7:47 of play. Their perfect 20-of-20 shooting from the foul line kept the Lady Spartans in the game, as did Pace's 30 turnovers. McCue tied for the game high with 11 rebounds while Erickson added 14 points and Lane hit four three pointers for a career-high 12 point effort. Gabriella Rubin led Pace with 14 points.

The Lady Spartans return to East Coast Conference action this Wednesday, January 7, when New York Institute of Technology pays a visit to Aquinas Hall. Tipoff is set for 6:00, and the game is the front end of a double-header, immediately followed by the men's squads.