The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team fell to a 69-68 loss at the University of the District of Columbia in the first round of the East Coast Conference Tournament. Tatyana Calhoun's foul shots with 0.5 seconds remaining boosted the Firebirds, who advance to Saturday's semi-finals to face #2 seed Queens College. The Lady Spartans' season concludes with an 18-11 overall record.

In a game that will go down as a classic in ECC Tournament history, neither team held a lead in excess of four points in a contest that saw 22 lead changes and 16 ties, as both squads battled for 40 thrilling minutes.

STAC converted a pair of early three from Alex Bertolino into a 10-7 lead, But Brandi Henton answered from downtown in the waning seconds to give the Firebirds a 19-15 edge after one quarter.

Perimeter shooting continued to boost the Lady Spartans as Alyson Brennan hit a pair from deep, yet a pair of Iman Scott jumpers put UDC in a 27-24 lead midway through the second. Jenna Erickson had not registered a point until 3:42 was left in the half, but she arrived in a big way, hitting a pair of treys as the score was deadlocked entering halftime.

A Brennan three gave STAC a 47-44 lead midway through the third, but the hosts answered with six straight, with Calhoun hitting a pair of buckets to give her team the 47-44 edge. Erickson answered with another three and a traditional three-point play, giving the visitors a 55-54 advantage heading into the final 10.

Taj Baldwin-Kollore's bucket put the Firebirds back on top by a 59-55 count, but Erickson again hit from deep seconds later to keep the score close. With UDC up by a 67-64 mark with two minutes in regulation, Erickson made one of two free throws, and followed with another huge three at the :56 second mark to give STAC a 68-67 advantage.

An offensive foul by Baldwin-Kollore gave the Lady Spartans the ball with 48 seconds left, but their possession came up empty, giving the Firebirds one last chance. With the final seconds ticking away, Arielle Ward forced up a wild shot, but Calhoun was on the spot for the offensive board and was fouled going up by Erickson. Calhoun calmly sank both foul shots with under a second to play - capping off UDC's perfect 11-for-11 night from the line - to send the home crowd into celebration.

Erickson was on fire with a torrid 7-of-13 from beyond the arc, while Brennan chipped in 12 points and Bertolino added 11. Henton and Iman Scott collected 17 points each for UDC, which outrebounded STAC by a 35-26 margin. Erickson was not the only player hitting from deep, as the Lady Spartans shot a stellar 14-of-25 (56%) from three-point range.

- Steve Balsan, St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information

- Photo by Dorice Arden