BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – A last second 12-foot turnaround jump shot by Saint Thomas Aquinas College's Ruth Adams spoiled a come-from-behind effort for the LIU Post women's basketball team on Saturday, Jan. 12 as the Pioneers fell to the Spartans in East Coast Conference action, 66-64.
 
LIU Post erased an 11-point second-half deficit to take a lead during the fourth quarter before Adams floating jumper found the bottom of the net. After trailing by eight at the halftime break, Saint Thomas Aquinas knocked down a three-point field goal out of the intermission to take its largest lead of the game (40-29), but graduate student Sasha Patterson got LIU Post back in contention quickly when she scored the next 11 points for the Pioneers during a four-minute stretch to make it 44-40 with six minutes remaining in the stanza.
 
A layup by freshman Ja'Lyn Armstrong capped off a 13-4 run to make it a one-possession game midway through the period, though the Spartans extended the advantage back to five points (50-45) at the final intermission of the contest. With 6:14 to play, Patterson muscled her way to the basket for a lay in off the glass to spark an 8-0 burst in just 36 seconds for the Green and Gold, giving the home squad its first lead since the 1:19 mark of the first quarter. Junior Robyn Francis put an exclamation point on the scoring burst with the only made three-pointer for the Pioneers during the contest, connecting from the right wing on a feed from redshirt-junior Taylah Hudson, Three lead changes over the next four minutes gave the Spartans a 64-62 advantage with 29 seconds to play before Patterson put home a pair of free throws to level the scoring at 64-64.
 
With the shot clock unplugged, the Spartans held for the final possession of the contest. Adams controlled a return pass at the top of the key and went one-on-one with Patterson and got the heavily contested jump shot to fall to give Saint Thomas Aquinas the two-point victory. 0.8 second was added to the game clock after the made basket, but the Pioneers were unable to get a shot attempt off before time expired.
 
Patterson finished with a game-high 26 points and 14 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Patterson also led LIU Post with an 8-for-9 effort at the charity stripe. Armstrong contributed 10 points off the bench, and senior Samantha Dunn added six points and six rebounds in her first start since November 11, handing out two assists on the day as well. Despite shooting just 37-percent from the field (19-51), LIU Post had a strong showing at the free throw line, making 78-percent (25-32) of its attempts. The Spartans struggled offensively as well, shooting below 40-percent for just the sixth time this season (27-68). The Spartans connected on five three-point field goals, however, which proved to be the difference after struggling to just 50-perecnt free throw shooting (7-14), including a 2-7 effort (.286) during the second half.
 
The Pioneers will look to buck its four-game skid when it hosts neighboring rival New York Institute of Technology inside the Pratt Recreation Center on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 5:00 p.m. in the first chapter of the 2018-19 Battle of the Boulevard rivalry.