The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team fell to a 60-49 loss in an East Coast Conference contest at Roberts Wesleyan College. Adiyah Henderson led the Lady Spartans with 14 points but her team's win streak was snapped at three, dropping to 10-4 overall and 3-3 in conference action. RWC has now won four straight to improve to 12-1, 4-1.
Roberts jumped to an early 6-1 lead but Chelsea Murphy's three-pointer keyed a 7-0 Lady Spartans run to put the visitors on top, 8-6. STAC led for much of the quarter but Necedah James' late hoop gave the Redhawks a 14-12 edge after one.
St. Thomas Aquinas recorded just one field goal over the first five minutes of quarter two, but tight defense kept them in the contest as another Murphy trey closed the gap to 24-22 at the half.
After pouring in 81 points in Thursday's win at Daemen, the Lady Spartans offense continued to struggle and this time RWC took advantage in a decisive third quarter. Once again, STAC went over five minutes with just one point, with the Redhawks riding an 10-1 run to a 34-23 lead.
Despite trailing, 48-35, with just under seven minutes to play, STAC was far from done. Alyson Brennan converted six straight points in an 11-2 run that took under two minutes, bringing her team to within 50-46 midway through the final quarter. That was as close as the game would get, with the home team pulling away with eight straight free throws over the final two minutes.
Shooting from the floor proved to be STAC's downfall, hitting just 24% (17-of-70) despite holding a commanding 48-34 rebounding advantage. Samantha Courtney led the Redhawks with a game-high 19 point effort.
The Lady Spartans are now 3-2 in the stretch of six straight away from home, which concludes on Tuesday, January 12, in a 5:00 pm tipoff at Mercy College. They will play their first game at Aquinas Hall in over a month on Thursday, January 14, when the University of the District of Columbia visits for another ECC showdown.
- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas College Sports Information
- Photo by Dorice Arden