Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team closed its 2023-24 regular season Saturday, falling to Mercy University 57-52 at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.

STAC slips to 17-11 overall and 11-5 within the ECC, as Mercy closes out the year at 19-8 and 12-4. Both teams now prepare for the upcoming ECC Women's Basketball Tournament.

Sarah Ericson led the way for the Spartans with a game-high 25 points, while teammates Trinity Cheatom (14 points) and Erin Leary (13 points) also posted double figures in scoring.

STAC shot 32.7 percent (18-55) from the field, while Mercy shot 36.2 percent (21-58) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Six Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the contest.
• Erin Leary led the maroon and gold with three assists on the afternoon.
• Sarah Ericson hit 9 of her 19 field goal attempts, with three shots going in from downtown. Meanwhile, Erin Leary went 5-for-13 from the floor.
• Mercy out-rebounded STAC by a 41-35 margin, with Erin Leary grabbing a game-high 13 boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up five steals, with the Mavericks turning the ball over on 12 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in two team statistical categories over Mercy: Points off Turnovers (14-9) and Fastbreak Points (8-7).
• The game featured five ties and five lead changes.
• STAC's largest lead of the contest came with 7:38 remaining in the first quarter, when Spartans led by four points, 4-0 on an Erin Leary made free throw.
• The Spartans and Mavericks took a 21-21 stalemate into their respective halftime locker rooms.
• Erin Leary led all scorers with 11 first half points for the Spartans, while also shooting 57.1 percent (4-for-7) from the field and 50.0 percent (2-for-4) from three-point.
• STAC's best shooting quarter came in the fourth, as the maroon and gold shot 47.4 percent (9-for-19).

MERCY NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seven Mavericks logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Jaclyn Stanavich led Mercy with 19 points, while teammate Katie Wall (17pts) also scored in double digits.
• Wall led Mercy with a game-high five assists on the afternoon.
• Stanavich went 6-of-17 from the floor, with Wall hitting 6 of her 15 field goal attempts. The pair combined to go 11-of-15 from the free throw line.
• Kyla Nembach also grabbed a team-high eight boards for the Mavericks.
• Mercy picked up nine steals, with the Spartans turning the ball over on 15 separate occasions.
• The Mavericks earned advatnages in three team statistical categories over St. Thomas Aquinas: Second Chance Points (8-7), Points in the Paint (32-14) and Bench Points (8-0).
• Katie Wall led Mercy with nine points in the opening half.
• Mercy's largest lead of the game came late in the fourth quarter on a Jaclyn Stanavich made layup, which put the Mavericks up 11, 48-37.
• The host Mavericks opened the game with its best shooting quarter of the day, hitting 7-of-12 field goals for a 58.3 percent clip.

UP NEXT:

#3 seed St. Thomas Aquinas hosts #6 D'Youville University in the first round of the East Coast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, March 6 (6:30 p.m.) at Aquinas Hall Gymnasium. The winner of Wednesday's matchup will head to Buffalo, New York to take on #2 seed Mercy University in the semifinals on Saturday, March 9 at Lumsden Gymnasium on the Daemen University campus.