Blauvelt, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team put together a second half rally to knock off Dominican University, 78-75, on Wednesday evening at the Hennessy Center.

STAC improves to 3-0 on the season, while Dominican slips to 1-2.

In the battle of Rockland County Division II Institutions separated by only a mile and a half, Erin Leary led the way for the Spartans, posting 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Sarah Ericson (10 points and 12 rebounds) and Julia Reggio (14 points) also scored in double-figures.

STAC shot 42.9 percent from the field (27-63) and 37.5 percent from behind the arc (6-16), while Dominican shot 39.4 percent (28-71) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Nine different players recorded double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Sarah Ericson led the Spartans with nine assists on the night.
• Erin Leary made 10 of her 15 field goal attempts, while Julia Reggio went 10-for-11 from the foul line.
• STAC was out rebounded by Dominican 44-42 through 40 minutes of action, as both Ericson (12) and Leary (11) posted double-digit boards.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up 10 steals in the contest, with the Chargers turning the ball over on 19 different occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in two team statistical categories over Dominican: Points in the Paint (36-30) and Bench Points (39-12).

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Dominican opened the game, scoring the evening's first seven points, before an Erin Leary three and a Sarah Ericson layup brought the Spartans back within one at 7-5 halfway through the first quarter.
• Back and forth play between the teams led to the hosts putting up 9 of the 16 total points scored in the remaining five minutes to take a 16-12 advantage through the first 10 minutes of action.
• STAC battled to tie the score twice within the first three minutes of the second quarter on the strength of buckets by Ericson and Kaitlyn Watrobski, knotting the game at 16-16 and 18-18.
• A scoring battle ensued for the final seven minutes of the first half, with Dominican leading by as many as seven (27-20 and 31-24). However, STAC continued to grind away and find ways to put the ball in the basket to only trail by two (34-32) at the break.
• Erin Leary paced the Spartans offense with 12 first half points, while Tanasha Mills led the Chargers with 10 points.
• Following the break, the see-saw affair continued with the sides matching each other shot for shot. The visitors from Sparkill were finally able to gain the lead and expand it to as much as five points, before a mini run by Dominican knotted things back up, 53-53 at the third quarter buzzer.
• In the final quarter, STAC took another quick seven-point lead via a Trinity Cheatom trey, a Melissa Alifano layup and an Erin Leary jumper to make it 60-53, and forcing the Chargers to call a timeout.
• A Dominican three cut the deficit to four, but it was short-lived as Kaitlyn Watrobski drained a three of her own to expand the STAC advantage back to seven.
• Late in the contest, the hosts would get themselves within one on several occasions, but Julia Reggio would be the hot hand down the stretch, scoring 11 of STAC's final 15 points via layups and free-throws. Trinity Cheatom, Sarah Ericson and Erin Leary also contributed to the scoring in the over the remaining three plus minutes, while the strong Spartan defense stood tall and foiled any serious attempts at a Dominican comeback.

UP NEXT:

St. Thomas Aquinas continues its two-game road trip, visiting Post University on Saturday, November 19 at 12:00 p.m. in Waterbury, Conn.