The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team captured an impressive 78-49 victory over Merrimack College in the finale of the STAC Conference Challenge at Aquinas Hall. Jenna Erickson led the charge with 21 points and Sam Burden added 13 as the Lady Spartans improved to 2-0 while Merrimack dropped to 1-1.

One night earlier, the Lady Spartans downed Felician University, 78-61, while Merrimack took down UDC, 75--66. STAC would stumble out of the gate, being held scoreless for the first five minutes of play, though the Warriors were only able to grab a 4-0 lead thanks to some stingy defensive play.

Alyson Brennan finally broke the seal with 4:41 left to cut the margin in half, sparking an 11-2 Lady Spartans run, with the final five coming from Burden. Erickson finished the first quarter with a three pointer from deep with time winding down, staking the hosts to a 14-8 advantage.

Merrimack point guard Tia Scott picked up her third foul just over a minute into the second stanza, and extending their lead to as many as 13 points before settling for a 33-24 halftime edge.

While the Warriors hung around with a double-digit defict, the Lady Spartans seemed unable to deal the knockout blow until reserve Lauren Melville's basket-and-one energized the crowd and gave her team its largest lead at 45-29 midway through the third quarter. Treys from Burden and Eriickson keep the ball rolling as the home squad grabbed a comfortable 56-41 advantage after three.

Any hope of a comeback for the Warriors was dashed early in the fourth, as the Lady Spartans turned up the heat for a 15-0 outburst over the first five minutes, leading to the comfortable final margin.

Erickson hit five three-pointers on the night with Burden adding two, and for the second straight night STAC was amazing from the free throw line, with 21-of-24 shooting accounting for an .875 team percentage. Through two games, the Lady Spartans are now 46-of-53 from the stripe, an impressive 87% clip. In addition, the defense forced 30 opposition turnovers for the second consecutive game.

The Lady Spartans return to action Tuesday evening, November 17, hosting Caldwell University in a non-conference tilt, with tipoff time scheduled for 6:00 pm at Aquinas Hall.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information