The St. Thomas Aquinas College women's basketball team dropped a 62-58 decision against New York Tech in an East Coast Conference battle at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans, ranked #6 in the East Region in this week's NCAA poll, have fallen in three of their last four, slipping to 19-6 overall and 11-3 in the ECC, with Tech jumping to 17-9, 10-4.

After STAC grabbed a quick 4-2 edge, NYIT rolled on a 12-2 run to take a 14-6 lead but the hosts closed to within 18-15 after one quarter. The Spartans reclaimed the advantage at 21-20 on a Zaria Thomas three-pointer but the Bears jumped back on top on the strength of a strong first half from Meg Knollmayer, to hold a 34-28 advantage at intermission.

St. Thomas Aquinas again clawed back to take a 39-38 edge on Missy Sadler's jumper midway through the third, but Tech scored the next six points and held a 48-43 lead by the end of the session. Emily Preston's jumper brought STAC to within 50-47 with just under seven minutes to play, but they would proceed to go scoreless for over three minutes as Zoe Amalbert's three opened a 59-47 lead with just 3:19 left.

Ruth Adams gave the Spartans life with a quick three, and Thomas hit three-of-four from the foul line to make the tally 59-53 with 2:04 on the clock. Tenacious defense forced three consecutive Bears turnovers, but STAC came up empty until a Sadler hoop with 30 ticks remaining closed to 59-55 and set the stage for a wild finish. Yet another New York Tech turnover opened the door but Knollmayer came up with a steal with 18 seconds remaining, but the Bears failed to cross the midcourt line as a 10-second violation gave the Spartans the ball with 8.6 seconds left.

Adams again came through with a catch-and-fire three, making the score 59-58 with 6.6 to go. After a foul, Knollmayer drained two at the line but the game remained at one possession at 61-58 with 4.6 left. After a timeout advanced the inbound to midcourt, STAC tried to go to Adams again but the inbound pass was low and caromed off her foot for the turnover that snuffed out the final chances at a comeback.

Thomas and Sadler led the home squad with 12 points each with Adams adding 11, while Knollmayer led all scorers with 22 points for NYIT.

The Spartans hit the road on Wednesday, February 26 to take on the University of Bridgeport before returning home for the regular-season finale as UDC visits for Senior Day on Saturday, February 29, with tip set for 1:00 pm.