The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team suffered a 60-43 setback at the hands of New York Institute of Technology in their East Coast Conference season opener. The loss snapped the Lady Spartans' season-opening five-game winning streak, dropping them to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the ECC, while NYIT improved to 6-5, 1-0.

Despite coming off a lengthy holiday layoff, the Lady Spartans got off to a strong start as Jenna Erickson and Kate McCue spurred a 10-0 run to give the visitors a 12-5 first-quarter lead. The Bears would respond with a 7-1 burst of their own, yet still trailed, 13-12, after the first.

Tech turned up the defensive pressure, holding STAC to just six second-quarter points while scoring the last five to turn a tie score into a 24-19 halftime lead. Shannon Duer's three-pointer midway through the third gave the hosts their largest lead at 37-24, but the Lady Spartans closed to within striking distance at 44-35 by quarter's end.

Adiya Henderson started the final quarter in promising fashion, draining a pair of hoops to narrow the gap to 44-39, but NYIT would rally to pour in the next 13 points, putting the game out of reach.

Erickson sparked STAC with a game-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds, and Henderson added 11 points. Shanice Allen paced the Bears with 14 points while Shannon Duer came up big with 13 and a domiinant 15-rebound effort.

The Lady Spartans will play their next three games at Aquinas Hall - all ECC tilts - starting on Saturday, December 5, when LIU-Post pays a visit for a 1:00 pm start. STAC will then host defending-champ Queens on Wednesday, December 9 with a 6:00 pm tip, and Molloy travels to Sparkill for a 1:00 start on Saturday, December 12.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information