The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team fell to a 68-54 defeat against New York Institute of Technology at Aquinas Hall. The Lady Spartans, ranked #9 in the East Region, dropped to 7-3 overall and 3-1 in the ECC, with NYIT improved to 6-4, 1-3.

A high-paced first quarter led to the Lady Spartans holding a 16-14 lead, but NYIT took charge in the second, with guard Nina Vukosavljevic spurring her Bears to a 38-29 halftime lead.

STAC had opportunities to close the gap in quarter three but the offense struggled, and a Chelsea Murphy three-point play kept the score at 52-42. The scoring woes continued into the final session as the hosts never drew closer than eight the rest of the way.

Adiya Henderson paced the Lady Spartans with 12 points and Kaitlyn McCue grabbed 11 rebounds, whie Margaret Knollmeyer led Tech with 16, and Vukosavljevic contributed 15 points and nine assists.

The Lady Spartans return to action on Thursday night for another big ECC showdown, hosting the University of Bridgeport on Thursday, December 15, in a 5:30 pm tipoff.