Manchester, N.H. - Redemption was sweet for the St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

Dropping both a home regular season contest and the NCAA Division II Tournament Quarterfinal to Southern New Hampshire University last season, the Spartans flexed their collective muscles and returned the favor with an 80-57 road triumph over the Penmen at the Stan Spirou Field House to close out 2023.

Erin Leary led the way for the maroon and gold, recording a game-high 18 points, while teammates Trinity Cheatom (17 points), Sarah Ericson (14pts) and Karolina Jaruseviciute (13pts) also posted double figures in scoring.

STAC shot 50.8 percent (30-59) from the field and 52.9 from downtown (9-17), while SNHU shot just 29.6 percent (29.9) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seven Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Sarah Ericson and Trinity Cheatom both led the maroon and gold with four assists apiece on the afternoon.
• Erin Leary hit 8 of her 12 field goal attempts, with two going in from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Karolina Jaruseviciute went 6-for-8 from the floor.
• STAC out-rebounded SNHU by a 49-38 margin, with Sarah Ericson grabbing a game-high ten boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up eight steals, with the Penmen turning the ball over on 14 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in three team statistical categories over So. New Hampshire: Points off Turnovers (18-17), Second Chance Points (13-8), Points in the Paint (36-30) and Fastbreak Points (11-9).
• The maroon and gold led the game from start to finish.
• STAC claims the 2023-2024 regular season sweep of both the Men's and Women's Basketball matchups, as the men's squad took an 88-81 decision over the Penmen to open their season on November 10.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• STAC raced out to a 9-2 lead on the strength of buckets by Trinity Cheatom, Karolina Jaruseviciute and Erin Leary which forced SNHU to burn a timeout just three minutes into the contest.
• Sarah Ericson's three-point jumper with three minutes to play in the opening stanza gave the Spartans their first double-digit advantage of the afternoon, as the maroon and gold led 16-6.
• So. New Hampshire would claw back within eight, but a three-point play by Jaruseviciute, followed by a Leary basket from beyond the arc before time expired put St. Thomas Aquinas up 24-10 through the first 10 minutes of action.
• The Penmen scored the first two points of the new quarter, but the Spartans would answer with eight straight points of their own. Erin Leary, Angelique Holguin and Trinity Cheatom would help balloon their team's lead to 20, at 32-12.
• Despite SHNU scoring on consecutive trips down the floor midway through the frame, STAC would continue to answer, as a Kaitlyn Watrobski trey, free throws from Trinity Cheatom and a step back jumper from Erin Leary expanded the margin on the scoreboard to 24, with the visitors now leading 42-18.
• One final three-point bucket for So. New Hampshire put a close on the scoring for the first half, with the Spartans taking a 42-21 advantage to the halftime locker room.
• Trinity Cheatom led all scorers with 14 first half points for STAC, while Meghan Gordon and Adriana Timberlake paced the SNHU offense with eight points apiece.
• When the teams returned to the court for the third quarter, it would be more of the same for the Spartans. Karolina Jaruseviciute, Angelique Holguin, Trinity Cheatom and Sarah Ericson helped the maroon and gold gain its largest lead of the contest (27 points) to make it a 53-29 game.
• SNHU would once again try to rally late in the frame, but Ericson and Erin Leary would answer with buckets of their own to keep the Penmen at an arms length. STAC took a 61-37 lead into the final stanza.
• So. New Hampshire opened the fourth quarter with a mini 6-2 streak to narrow their deficit to 20 points, 63-43.
• Down the stretch, Sarah Ericson (4pts), Kaitlyn Watrobski (3pts), Angelique Holguin (4pts), Erin Leary (2pts), Delaney Finnegan (1pt) and Bailey Chapman (3pts) all helped maintain the 20-point plus advantage for the Spartans until the final buzzer.
• St. Thomas Aquinas becomes the first team to score 80 or more points on Southern New Hampshire this season and it is only the second time the Penmen have surrendered 80 or more points in the last 13 months (Last Time - Nov. 12, 2022 at SNHU: Dominican 88/So. New Hampshire 84 in OT).

UP NEXT:

St. Thomas Aquinas College travels to the City of Brotherly Love for another East Region showdown, this one with Jefferson University on Thursday, January 4. The Spartans and Rams will clash at 1:00 p.m. inside of Gallagher Center in Philadelphia, Pa.