Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball put a bow on home-portion of its schedule for calendar year 2023, with a 66-43 triumph over Bloomfield College of Montclair State University on Friday evening at Aquinas Hall.

STAC improves to 5-5 overall, while Bloomfield falls to 1-8.

Erin Leary led the way for the Spartans, recording a game-high 19 points, while teammates Trinity Cheatom (14pts) and Karolina Jaruseviciute (11pts) also scored in double figures.

STAC shot 38.5 percent (25-65) from the field, while Bloomfield shot 24.6 percent (16-65) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Ten Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Delaney Finnegan led the maroon and gold with four assists on the evening.
• Erin Leary made 6 of her 16 field goal attempts, with 5 of 12 going in from downtown. Meanwhile, Trinity Cheatom went 5-for-12 from the floor and 4 of 8 from three.
• Bloomfield out-rebounded STAC by a slim 44-42 margin, with Karolina Jaruseviciute grabbing a game-high nine boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas picked up six steals, with the Bears turning the ball over on 18 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned advantages in four team statistical categories over Bloomfield: Points off Turnovers (19-10), Points in the Paint (24-16), Fastbreak Points (4-2) and Bench Points (20-10).
• The game featured two ties and five lead changes.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Despite the Spartans early 5-4 lead, Bloomfield racked up seven straight points to take an 11-5 advantage.
• Erin Leary's trey brought STAC within three at 11-8, but the Bears answered with a bucket of their own to go up 13-8.
• Layups by Sarah Ericson and Leary in the final 30 seconds of the opening quarter, narrowed the Spartans' deficit on the scoreboard to just one, at 13-12 through the first 10 minutes of play.
• Karolina Jaruseviciute's layup to start the second stanza, flipped the scoreboard back in favor of the maroon and gold, 14-13.
• Bloomfield regained a slim 16-14 lead, but an 11-0 run courtesy of Sarah Ericson, Erin Leary, Karolina Jaruseviciute and Trinity Cheatom gave the hosts a nine-point advantage, 25-16, with five minutes to play before halftime.
• Back and forth play between the sides allowed STAC to maintain three 10-point advantages late in the first half.
• Bloomfield would climb back within eight points in the final minute of play, but Delaney Finnegan would have the answer to the Bears' attempted rally, hitting a bucket from downtown just before the buzzer, to give the Spartans an 11-point lead at the break.
• Erin Leary led all scorers with 10 first half points for the Spartans, while Kayla Sykes picked up nine points for the Bears.
• When the teams returned to the court for the third quarter, the sides would trade baskets, before a Bears three pointer would cut their deficit to eight points (39-31).
• A Karolina Jaruseviciute free throw and an Erin Leary three, put the Spartans back up by 12, at 43-31.
• Leary, Angelique Holguin, Jaruseviciute and Trinity Cheatom helped to keep the STAC lead at double-digits through the final minutes of the third quarter, pushing the advantage to 53-38 with one quarter left to play.
• The final stanza saw the maroon and gold score 13 of the quarter's 18 total points. Trinity Cheatom, Karolina Jaruseviciute, Emily Strunk, Erin Leary and Kaitlyn Watrobski all accounted for the Spartans' scoring, as STAC built it's largest lead of the game (25 points), when Watrobski drained a three with a little over two minutes to play, to make it 66-41.
• STAC made stops and ran out the clock to clinch the 23-point win, it's second straight victory and third in its last four contests.

UP NEXT:

STAC will hit the hardwood for one final contest before the mandatory seven-day NCAA Division II Holiday Break, on Monday, December 18 (1:00 p.m.). The Spartans face off with Goldey-Beacom University in a non-conference road matchup at the Joseph West Jones Center in Wilmington, Delaware.