Women's Basketball Overwhelms St. Thomas Aquinas, 85-73
Box Score
SPARKILL, N.Y. (Jan. 18, 2014) - The LIU Post women's basketball team came away with its fifth-straight win on Saturday afternoon, beating St. Thomas Aquinas, 85-73, in an East Coast Conference battle at Aquinas Hall in Sparkill, N.Y.
The triumph marks the 100th-career victory for Head Coach
Deirdre Moore, who has led the Pioneers since the 2008-09 campaign.
For the second-consecutive game, the green and gold stormed out of the gate, picking up an 18-3 lead over the game's first eight-plus minutes of action. Senior guard
Alexis Peters (Dorchester, Mass.) paced the Pioneers with seven points in the spurt.
After St. Thomas Aquinas called a timeout at the 5:20 mark with LIU Post ahead 29-15, the green and gold outscored the Spartans, 10-9, to bring a 41-24 advantage into halftime.
In the second half, the Pioneers extended their lead to 22 (52-30) when senior forward
Shayna Gatling (Baldwin, N.Y.) hit a lay-up with 16:33 to go in regulation. Later on, the visitors used a 5-0 spurt to open up as much as a 27-point cushion.
Trailing 66-42 with just under 11 minutes remaining, St. Thomas Aquinas went on a 16-2 run to get within 10 (68-58) and with 4:41 left, a lay-up by Briana Cook made it a seven-point game (69-62). The Spartans would never get closer though.
Gatling and sophomore guard
Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.) led all players with 19 points apiece, and both came down with eight rebounds. Peters chipped in 17 points and six rebounds, while senior forward
Dominique Pagan (Bronx, N.Y.) amassed six points and seven rebounds off the bench.
The Pioneers (10-4, 7-1 ECC) shot 47 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Spartans (7-6, 3-5 ECC), 47-42.
Moore and the Pioneers return to action on Wednesday (Jan. 22), when they travel to Molloy to take on the Lions in an ECC tilt. The opening tip is scheduled for 5 p.m.