Slow Start Dooms Women's Basketball at STAC, 77-69
Box Score SPARKILL, N.Y. (Feb. 14, 2015) - The LIU Post women's basketball team fell behind early against St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday and could not muster a comeback, falling to the Spartans 77-69 at Aquinas Hall.
The Pioneers (14-9, 10-5 ECC) opened the contest with three missed field goals and four turnovers, while Saint Thomas Aquinas (11-14, 7-9 ECC) built up a 6-0 run before junior guard
Quanisha Ratley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made a lay-up for the first LIU Post points of the game. After red-shirt senior forward
Jessica Little (Wyandanch, N.Y.) knocked down a three-point shot to cut the lead to 6-5, the Spartans broke out a 17-0 run in just over five-and-a-half minutes, opening up a 23-5 advantage at the mid-point of the first half. In that portion of play, the Pioneers went cold, missing five shots from the field and committing four turnovers. The Spartans would lead by as many as 20 points before heading into the halftime break with a 45-28 edge.
Ratley opened the second half with the Pioneers' first five points, as LIU Post managed to cut the lead to 14 with 18:50 to play. But a layup by freshman forward Adiya Henderson (Troy, N.Y.) and a three-pointer make by junior forward Alyson Brennan (Hicksville, N.Y.) gave Saint Thomas Aquinas an 18-point lead just one minute later. Neither team scored for two full minutes after Brennan's long-range jumper, but the Pioneers managed another 5-0 mini spurt thanks to a Little three-point shot and two free throws from senior guard
Chelsea Williams (Copiague, N.Y.). The Spartans, though, were quick to answer back as sophomore guard Kristen Olsen (Staten Island, N.Y.) knocked down a three-point shot at the ten-minute mark of the second half to give her team a 59-43 lead. The Pioneers could not make a serious charge after that point, and only got as close as the final margin when Williams hit a driving lay-up with eight seconds to play.
Little had a team-high 15 points for LIU Post in the loss, while Williams scored 13 in the effort. However, the two combined to shoot just 8-for-30 from the field, including making 5-of-17 shots from behind the three-point line. Junior forward
Nyasia Davis (Rahway, N.J.) added 11 points and eight rebounds while Ratley pitched in with 10 points. The Pioneers managed to shoot just 34% (21-61) from the field and 30% (7-23) from three-point territory. The green and gold also struggled at the free-throw line, hitting just 59% (20-34) of their shots from the stripe.
The Spartans never trailed in the contest, thanks to the efforts of guards Samantha Burden (Westbury, N.Y.) and Jenna Erickson (Melrose, N.Y.). Burden had a game-high 18 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Erickson hit three three-pointers on her way to a 17-point outing. Olsen chipped in 15 points off the bench for Saint Thomas Aquinas in the win, while junior forward KC Sokolski (Elma, N.Y.) added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds. The Spartans shot 46% (21-46) from the field and hit exactly half (8-16) of their three-point shots.
LIU Post outrebounded their opponents in the contest 43-38, and forced 21 turnovers while committing only 19. The Pioneers also had more second chance points (19-8), points in the paint (26-24) and bench points (29-26) than the Spartans did in the contest.
Head Coach
Deirdre Moore and the Pioneers will attempt to rebound from the loss on Wednesday (Feb. 18) when they play Molloy in Rockville Centre, N.Y. Tip-off from Quealy Gymnasium is set for 5 p.m.