The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team rolled to a 79-48 East Coast Conference victory at Mercy College. The Spartans close out the calendar year with a record of 10-2 overall and 3-0 in ECC action, while Mercy slid to 6-6, 0-3 with the loss.

Both teams exchanged early leads as Abagail Collier hit a bucket to put the Mavericks on top by a 6-5 count after just over three minutes. STAC's offense found its stride as Victoria Kurisko's layup touched off a 16-2 run to open a 21-8 lead. Mercy trimmed the gap to 23-16 by quarter's end, and kept the deficit from expanding, remaining in striking distance as the Spartans rode a 37-30 advantage into intermission.

STAC's lead remained at 41-35 with 7:35 remaining in the third when the defense clamped down, holding the hosts off the board for nearly five minutes. Sarah Scerbak hit back-to-back buckets as a 15-1 outburst staked the visitors to a 56-36 gap with 1:29 left and St. Thomas Aquinas continued to roll as a 42-18 second half was enough to cruise to victory.

Missy Sadler led all scorers with 19 for STAC, while Scerbak added 13 and Emily Preston chipped in 10. Katie Wall paced the Mavericks' attack with 12 points.

The Spartans return to action in 2020 with five of their first six games at Aquinas Hall. They will host USciences for a big regional showdown on Friday, January 3, before New Haven (January 8) and Molloy (Jan 11) pay a visit.