DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 21, 2012) – Senior forward Jasmine Williams (Stratford, Conn.) scored 21 points and grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to post her seventh double-double of the season, but the Mercy College women's basketball team could not keep up with East Coast Conference foe St. Thomas Aquinas College as the Spartans rode a second-half surge to a 71-64 win in the Mercy Gymnasium on Saturday evening.

St. Thomas Aquinas' record improves to 7-9 overall and 2-4 in the ECC, while Mercy drops to 1-14 (1-5) on the season.

The Mavericks shot evenly with the Spartans at 42 percent, but the Spartans benefited from better three-point shooting (5-13 versus 0-2) and a slew of free throws (18-25 versus 4-8).

Mercy took an early lead, scoring the first six points of the game, but St. Thomas Aquinas scored 11 unanswered points to go up by five at the 13:11 mark.  Mercy managed to take back the lead with six minutes to play in the half on 13 points between Williams and sophomore guard Maria Nardulli (Staten Island, N.Y.), but after several ties the Spartans scored another seven straight and took a 32-31 lead into the break.

St. Thomas Aquinas slowly increased the margin as the second half got underway, stretching it out to as many as 15 as the clock ticked down but Williams came on strong again, scoring eight of the Mavericks' final 12 points to cut the deficit back to single digits. 

Williams' 21 points marked her seventh 20-point game of the season and increased her scoring average to 18.8 to retain the ECC lead.  She is also just shy of averaging a double-double on the season, as her career high in rebounds increased her per-game average to 9.8, and moved into sole possession of 11^th place on the Mercy career blocks list, with 38. 

Senior point guard Simone Williams (Waldorf, Md.), tied for third in Division II in assists per game, also broke into double-digits in scoring with 12 points and led the squad with three assists before fouling out.  Nardulli posted one of her best performances of the year with six points and seven rebounds in just 20 minutes of action.

Senior forward Briana Sloper (Williston Park, N.Y.) led the game with 25 points and five steals and added eight rebounds, while junior guard Bianca Kowgios (Yonkers, N.Y.) led the squad in rebounds (nine) and assists (six).  Junior guard Shpresa Liharevic (Staten Island, N.Y.) and freshman forward Ashley Motrechuk (Staten Island, N.Y.) each scored in double-digits, with 16 and 14, respectively.

Head Coach Kelli Dunlay and the Mavericks will next travel to Oakdale, N.Y. to take on ECC-leading Dowling College (14-3, 7-0) on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 5:00 p.m.  The game against Dominican (N.Y.) College previously scheduled for Monday has been postponed; please continue to check www.mercyathletics.com for an announcement concerning when the game will be rescheduled.