The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team shook off a slow start to rally for a 65-47 East Coast Conference victory at the University of Bridgeport. The Lady Spartans, ranked #21 in the nation and #3 in the region, improve to 13-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in ECC play, with Bridgeport falling to 5-11, 2-4.

Bridgeport bolted from the gate early, scoring the game's first six points. While STAC rallied to close the gap, the Purple Knights held a 22-14 lead after one quarter on the strength of a late Brianna Stoddart three-pointer. Adiya Henderson took charge for the visitors, scoring the first seven points of the second quarter, and the Lady Spartans' defense shut down Bridgeport the rest of the way, allowing just 25 points over the final three quarters.

Henderson's outburst trimmed the deficit to 22-21, and after a pair of Kadijah Dickson free throws put the Purple Knights up by three, Zaria Thomas brought STAC even with a shot from long range with 6:17 left in the half. Alex Bertolino put the Lady Spartans up at 26-24 on a layup with 4:27 left and her team would never look back, opening a 33-28 edge at halftime.

Not only did the visitors score the first seven points of the third quarter, but STAC also held Bridgeport scoreless for the first 7:03 of the session, and a late Erickson trey opened a 51-35 chasm which the Lady Spartans were easily able to defend through the fourth quarter.

Erickson led all scorers with 19 points, with Julia Winnick adding 14 and Henderson putting forth a dominant performance with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Stoddart was the lead scorer for the Purple Knights with nine points.

The Lady Spartans continue their current string of four straight on the road with a non-conference trip to Assumption on Wednesday, before resuming conference action at the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday, January 13. Their next home contest is Saturday, January 20, when LIU Post pays a call to Aquinas Hall.