The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team captured a 75-56 East Coast Conference upset victory at the University of the District of Columbia. The win was STAC's 3rd straight, improving to 16-10 overall. UDC now stands at 19-7, 14-4.
More importantly, the Lady Spartans are now 9-9 in the ECC, solidifying their hold on a potential tournament berth, combined with Daemen's loss. STAC is now tied for fifth with Molloy at 9-9, two games ahead of Daemen at 7-11.
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A trio of three pointers boosted the visitors early, with Alex Bertolino, Alyson Brennan, and Jenna Erickson giving the Lady Spartans an early 13-3 lead. UDC trimmed that gap to a pair at 14-12 on a Baldwin-Kollore jumper, but Sam Burden finished the session with a jumper to open a 20-13 gap.
Baldwin-Kollore again brought UDC to within 22-20 early in the second, but KC Sokolski capped an 11-0 Lady Spartans run, and and expanded that margin to 41-24 at half. Precision passing continued to cut up the Firebirds' zone, as the lead ballooned to 25 at 53-28 on a pair of Erickson foul shots in the third stanza.
In a desperate attempt to get back in the game, UDC turned up the pressure, but the Lady Spartans had the answers to secure a surprisingly comfortable victory over the conference's second-place squad, as the contest was never closer that 16 in the final 10 minutes.
Bertolino led all scorers with 22 points, Erickson added 16 points and Burden 15 in the St. Thomas Aquinas victory. Taj Baldwin-Kollore paced the Firebirds, tying for the game-high with 22.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Lady Spartans will travel to the University of Bridgeport on Wednesday, February 24, before closing out the regular season at Aquinas Hall against Dowling College on Saturday, February 27. Senior Day festivities will precede the 1:00 pm tipoff. A victory in either of their last two games will clinch a tournament berth for STAC.
- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information
- Photo by Dorice Arden