The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team grabbed a 59-48 East Coast Conference win over LIU Post at Aquinas Hall. The victory was the 200th in Kim Lusk's coaching career, encompassing her tenure at NJIT as well as her nine seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas. The Lady Spartans are now 15-7 overall and 9-4 in ECC play, remaining third in the conference standings and #9 in this week's East Regional poll. With the loss, Post drops to 9-12, 5-6.

Points were scarce in the early going, as Adiya Henderson's lay-up just 18 seconds into the game was the only scoring until Kait McCue's jumper nearly three minutes later. Alex Bertolino's three-pointer made the tally 9-0 as the Pioneers didn't get on the scoreboard for over seven minutes and trailed by a 15-4 count after the first quarter.

STAC's defense continued to set the tone as the lead increased to 24-8 on a Jenna Erickson three midway through the second, but Post answered with the next 10 points and trailed by just a 26-18 deficit at halftime.

While the hosts' lead grew to as many as 14 points in the third, the Lady Spartans were unable to deal the knockout blow with LIU Post drawing to within 43-35 by the end of the session. That trend continued into the fourth when, with STAC holding a 45-37 advantage, both teams came up empty over a four minute span before Alex Bertolino's jumper with 3:51 left spurred a 6-0 run that would put the game away.

McCue led St. Thomas Aquinas with 15 points with Bertolino adding 11, while Henderson and Sam Burden dominated the glass with 11 rebounds apiece. Mikaiya Moore led the Pioneers with 16, with Kylie Garrett adding 14.

The Lady Spartans return to ECC action on Saturday, February 4, hosting the University of the District of Columbia. Tip-off at Aquinas Hall is 1:00 pm, with double-header action featuring the men's teams to follow at approximately 3:00 pm.