Purple Knights Nipped At St. Thomas Aquinas, 48-46, In ECC Women's Basketball Action

Sparkill, N.Y.-A layup by St. Thomas Aquinas' Samantha Burden with 28 seconds to play proved to be the game-winning basket, as the host Lady Spartans withstood three attempts by the visiting University of Bridgeport Purple Knights to tie things up in the final seconds, as STAC posted a low-scoring, 48-46, East Coast Conference women's basketball win on Saturday afternoon.  UB is now 1-5 overall and 0-2 in conference play.  The Lady Spartans up their overall record to 4-3, and they are 2-0 in the ECC.

Trailing 46-42 with just over three minutes to play, the Purple Knights came back to tie the contest at 46-46 with 44 seconds to play when senior Jenna Hoffman (Manchester Center, Vt.) made a lay-up before Burden's game-winning shot the next possession.

UB would have three chances to at least tie things up after the Lady Spartans took the 48-46 lead but nothing would drop for the visitors including a shot by senior Tiara Aziz (Easton, Pa.) just before time expired.

The Purple Knights got off to a good start on the day taking 19-7 lead just over halfway through the opening 20 minutes of action.  St. Thomas Aquinas would battle back to tie the game at the half, 24-24, closing out the first half on a 17-5 run.

UB was plagued by cold shooting all day long going only 17 of 61 from the floor (27.9%) and 8 of 15 from the foul line (53.3%).  The Lady Spartans went 10 of 11 from the foul line for the game.

Junior Shannon Holt (Holden, Mass.) led Bridgeport on the day with a double-double scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Holt also blocked six shot on the day.  Hoffman and Aziz each had nine points for the Purple Knights.

Up next for the UB women's basketball team will be an ECC home contest against the Mercy College Mavericks on Saturday, December 13.  Bridgeport will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak next Saturday when the contest tips-off at 1:00 p.m.