When and Where: December 30, 2023 – Manchester, N.H. (Stan Spirou Field House)
Score: St. Thomas Aquinas College 80, Southern New Hampshire University 57
Records: SNHU 6-3, STAC 7-5
Graduate student
Adriana Timberlake (Braintree, Mass.) and senior
Jess Knight (Hanover, Mass.) combined for 33 points, as the Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team was defeated, 80-57, by St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game at the Stan Spirou Field House.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Timberlake – 18 points (8-22 FG, 2-8 3-FG), 5 assists, 2 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block
- Knight – 15 points (6-14 FG, 3-3 FT), 9 rebounds
KEY MOMENTS
- Southern New Hampshire fell behind, 9-2, in the opening three minutes before St. Thomas Aquinas ended the first quarter with six straight to grab a 24-10 advantage.
- The Spartans used an 18-6 burst to grab their largest lead of the half at 42-18 with three minutes to go and would head to the locker room with a 42-21 lead.
- STAC scored 11 of the first 16 out of the break to run the margin to its largest of the contest at 53-26 just under four-and-a-half minutes into the second half. The visitors would lead, 61-37, at the end of three.
- SNHU would begin the final frame on a 9-4 run – with the first six points coming from Knight – to trim the deficit to 65-46 less than four minutes in, but a 9-2 counter-run from the Spartans ran their lead back up to 26 at 74-48 nearly two minutes later.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Sophomore Meghan Gordon (Attleboro, Mass.) posted eight points (4-12 FG), three rebounds and a pair of steals.
- Freshman Madison Hughes (Columbia, Conn.) hit for a career-best six points (2-2 FG, 2-2 3-FG) and grabbed three rebounds.
- Junior Sydnie DeVries (Monson, Mass.) tallied three points (1-4 FG) and six rebounds.
- Freshman Ava Winterburn (New Boston, N.H.) also netted three points (1-3 FG, 1-2 3-FG).
- St. Thomas Aquinas outshot Southern New Hampshire, 50.8 percent (30-59) to 29.9 percent (23-77), including 52.9 percent (9-17) to 20 percent (5-25) from behind the arc. STAC was also better from the line, 64.7 percent (11-17) to 54.5 percent (6-11).
- The Penmen received more scoring from their bench (13-10) and turned in a better assist-to-turnover ratio (13/14-15/23), while the Spartans captured the glass (49-38) and the paint (36-30), scored more points off turnovers (18-17), second chance points (13-8) and on the fast break (14-12).
NOTES
- SNHU still leads the all-time series with STAC, 4-2, but the Spartans snapped a two-game slide with the victory – their first since Dec. 11, 2010 (72-60) at home. The Penmen had won the only other meeting on their home floor Nov. 15, 2008 (53-35).
- SNHU dips to 47-18 (.723) since the start of the 2021-22 season, including 23-10 (.697) at the Stan Spirou Field House.
- Timberlake continues to climb the all-time scoring list, now at 1266 points. She passed Trisha Johnson (81-85; 1256 points) to move into seventh. Next up on the list is Casey Balzano (1983-87) with 1304 points.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The next game for SNHU is Wednesday, Jan. 3 (5:30 p.m.) when it takes on Adelphi University.
- The next home contest for the Penmen is Wednesday, Jan. 10 (5:30 p.m.) when they play host to American International College at the Stan Spirou Field House in a game that will air live on WGIR 610-AM and Fox Sports 930-AM.
