Last Second Lay-up Pushes St. Thomas Aquinas Over Women's Basketball, 69-71
Box Score
Sparkill, N.Y. (February 19, 2011) – Brianna Sloper of St. Thomas Aquinas converted on a last second lay-up to give the Spartans a two point victory over the C.W. Post Women, 69-71. Janea Aiken (St. Albans, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with 17 points.
Aiken hit a jumper with five second left to pull the game at an even 68 points, the eighth tie of the game. After a St. Thomas Aquinas timeout, Sloper found herself able to convert the clinch lay-up with no time left on the clock. The win pushes the Spartans to 19-7 overall and 15-4 in the conference, ultimately clinching a regular season ECC title. The Pioneers drop to 12-12 overall with the loss, 10-9 in the conference.
The Pioneers went into the half with a 12 point lead at 39-27, making that the largest lead the Pioneers held all game. Nicolette Marciniak (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 10 points in the first half for C.W. Post, leading all scorers in the opening frame. Each team shot the ball well, with the Pioneers shooting 53.1 percent during the first half, compared to a 52.2 percent shot by the Spartans. Rebounding contributed greatly to the early Pioneer lead, as the squad held an 18-8 rebounding advantage over the first 20 minutes.
The Spartans used a 20-8 run to tie the game at 47 just less than 10 minutes into the second half. The lead for either team never went above four points for the rest of the game, as both teams exchanged leads frequently over the course of the remaining 10 minutes of the second half.
The Spartans were able to outscore the Pioneers 44-30 during the second half, led by Leane Urbancik's 11 second half points. The Pioneer shooting percentage dropped to 28 percent during the second half, compared to the Spartans shooting 50 percent.
Four players figured into double-figure scoring, led by Theresa Dowling's 16 points. Dowling also grabbed nine rebounds for the Spartans.
On the Pioneer side, Aiken led all scorers with her 17 points, while also dishing out four assists and tallying three steals. Marciniak finished the game with 15 points and four rebounds.
Next up for the Pioneers will be a February 23 match-up against Queens at the Pratt Center. The game is set for a 5 p.m. tip-off.