Freshmen Trio Lead Lady Spartans to Win

The St. Thomas Aquinas women's basketball team beat Mercy College 83-70 on Saturday afternoon.  Freshmen Briana Sloper led all scorers with twenty-six points and eleven rebounds.  Fellow rookies Natalie Catavero and Sylvia Davis had career highs scoring eighteen and sixteen points respectively.  Davis was 4-5 from the field and 8-10 from the foul line.  Junior Colleen Vogel added eleven points to round out the double figure scorers.

The Lady Spartans got off to an 8-2 start as Catavero scored a traditional three point play off a pass from Davis.  Davis finished with a game high six assists and also grabbed six boards.  Catavero scored another layup with 9:37 to go in the half to extend the Lady Spartans lead to eleven, 25-14.  Mercy went on a 7-0 run with under two minutes to play in the half to close within one point.  STAC responded with two big baskets in the final minute one by Davis and one by junior Whitney Dugan to give them momentum going into the break. 

Sloper scored ten points in the first five minutes of the second half to give STAC a thirteen point advantage, 55-42.  Sloper was 10-17 from the field and 6-8 from the foul line.  Vogel hit a three at the ten minute mark followed by a Davis layup to give STAC their largest lead of the game and keep Mercy out of reach.  The Lady Spartans received a strong defensive game by Kaitlin Page who had three steals and six rebounds.   

STAC will be back in action on Wednesday as the travel to Concordia College.