The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team earned a 57-47 East Coast Conference win over the University of Bridgeport at Aquinas Hall. STAC is now 8-3 overall and moved into a first-place tie in the ECC standings with Queens at 4-1, with Bridgeport dropping to 7-4, 2-2. The Lady Spartans are ranked #9 in the East Region in this week's poll released by the Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA).

Jenna Erickson led the way for STAC with a game-high 16 points, with Camera Miley pacing the Purple Knights with 13. The Lady Spartans held Bridgeport to just four first-quarter points and never trailed in the contest.

Defense ruled the early minutes, as STAC held a 4-2 lead midway through the first. Missy Sadler's late lay-up opended the hosts' lead to 12-4 after 10 minutes. An Erickson jumper opened the lead to 21-10 with six minutes left in the first half, but a pair of Aaliyah Mercer buckets closed the gap to 27-23 at the break.

Evelyn Ovner's early jumper drew the Purple Knights to within 27-25, but Ruth Adams keyed an 11-3 run to open a 38-28 lead. Bridgeport continued to chip away into the fourth with Anastasia Williams making the score 45-44 with five minutes to play. Erickson took charge from there, with three-pointers in successive possessions, giving STAC a lead that would not be threatened.

Adiyah Henderson pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for STAC, which owned a 50-46 rebounding edge for the game. Bridgeport settled for just 31% shooting from the field (20-65), and STAC turned the ball over just 13 times overall.

The Lady Spartans play their final game before the break on Saturday, December 17, traveling to face the University of the District of Columbia in an ECC tilt. They will then be off until Friday, December 30, when Pace University visits Aquinas Hall for a 1:00 pm start.