Waterbury, Conn. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team saw its season opening three-game win streak halted on Saturday afternoon by Post University, 54-49 at the Drubner Center.

STAC drops to 3-1 on the season, while Post improves to 3-1.

Sarah Ericson paced the Spartans with 20 points, while Karolina Jaruseviciute grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds in the contest.

STAC shot 37.7 percent from the field (23-61), while Post shot 30.6 percent (19-62) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Eight different players recorded double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Joline Raposo, Sarah Ericson and Kaitlyn Watrobski had two assists apiece for the Spartans on the day.
• Sarah Ericson made 10 of her 22 field goal attempts, while Erin Leary went 3-for-6 from the floor.
• Post out rebounded St. Thomas Aquinas by a margin of 48 to 34 through 40 minutes of action, with Karolina Jaruseviciute posting nine boards.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up eight steals in the contest, with the Eagles turning the ball over on 15 different occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in three team statistical categories over Post: Points in the Paint (26-16), Fastbreak Points (8-0) and Bench Points (14-13).
• There were 4 ties and 13 lead changes in the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• STAC raced out to a 6-1 advantage, via baskets from Sarah Ericson, Angelique Holguin and Karolina Jaruseviciute over the first 2:22 of the opening quarter.
• The host eagles tied things up a 6 all, before an Erin Leary jumper gave the Spartans back the lead at 8-6.
• A 9-0 run by Post flipped the scoreboard in their favor, 15-8 with just over a minute to play in the first quarter.
• St. Thomas Aquinas scored four of the final six points to trail 17-12 at the end of the stanza.
• It was all Spartans in the second quarter, as a 14-2 frame gave the visitors a 26-19 advantage at halftime.
• Sarah Ericson and Erin Leary led the Spartans' offense with 6 first-half points each, while Tijanae Simmons led Post with 6 points of her own.
• Following the break, Post pulled within three (26-23), but STAC would push its lead back eight (31-23) on a Kaitlyn Watrobski trey and a Sarah Ericson jumper.
• A 10-0 run by the Eagles gave them back the lead at 33-31, before a series of buckets and free throws by both sides put the score at 36-35 in favor of STAC through three quarters of play.
• See-saw between the squads resulted in six lead changes over four plus minute span, with St  Thomas Aquinas up one, 44-43 with under six minutes to play.
• An 8-0 run by the Eagles put them ahead 51-44 with less than three minutes left in the contest.
• Trinity Cheatom's three-pointer and Angelique Holguin's layup on back-to-back trips down the floor closed the deficit to two (51-49) with 1:38 to go.
• Three Post free throws down the stretch increased their lead back to five, as they were able to withstand a valiant rally attempt by STAC and win the game 54-49.

UP NEXT:

St. Thomas Aquinas College hosts Caldwell University in a pre-Thanksgiving tilt on Tuesday, November 22 (5:30 p.m.) at Aquinas Hall.