Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Women's Basketball team snapped a seven-game losing streak on Wednesday evening, grinding out a thrilling 68-67 overtime victory over Molloy University at Aquinas Hall.

STAC moves to 4-12 overall and 2-4 in ECC play, while Molloy slides back to 8-8 and 2-3.

Syrita Faraj led the maroon and gold with her ninth double-double of the season, dropping 28 points and securing 14 rebounds. Meanwhile, teammates Karolina Jaruseviciute (13 points) and Trinity Cheatom (10 points) also scored in double figures. Samantha Muller tallied a team-high 20 points for the visiting Lions.

St. Thomas Aquinas shot 46.9 percent from the field (23-49), while Molloy shot 25.6 percent (21-82) from the floor.

STAC NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seven Spartans logged double-digit minutes in the conference contest. 
• Trinity Cheatom led the maroon and gold with three assists on the night.
• Syrita Faraj hit 8 of her 12 field goals and 12-of-14 free throw attempts. Meanwhile, Karolina Jaruseviciute went 4-for-9 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
• STAC out-rebounded Molloy by a 48-39 margin, with both Syrita Faraj grabbing a game-high 14 boards for the Spartans.
• St. Thomas Aquinas forced six steals, with the Lions turning the ball over on 11 separate occasions.
• The Spartans earned one advantage in the team statistical categories over Molloy: Points in the Paint (36-26).
• The game featured 14 ties and six lead changes.
• STAC's largest lead of the game came with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter, when Spartans led by 14 points, 40-26, on a Trinity Cheatom layup.
• STAC held a 30-24 advantage going into the halftime locker room and shot 45.4 percent (10-for-22) from the field and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the foul line.
• Syrita Faraj led all scorers with 12 first half points for the Spartans, while shooting both 67.0 percent (4-of-6) from the floor and from the free-throw line (4-of-6).
• STAC best shooting quarter came in second stanza, with the maroon and gold hitting 4 of its 7 total shots for a 57.1 field goal percentage, 1 of its 2 three-point attempts for a 50.0 percent clip and 6 of 8 free throws for a 75.0 percent rating.
• Karolina Jaruseviciute was swatting away Lions shots all night long, earning 6 blocks in the contest. 
• Playing significant minutes in each of the last two games for the shorthanded Spartans, freshman Katie Purpura has provided a major source of energy and has disrupted the opposition during key moments. On Wednesday, Purpura grabbed five rebounds, dished off a pass which earned her an assist, came up with a steal and connected on her only shot attempt to give the maroon and gold two valuable points in 12 minutes of work.

MOLLOY NOTES AND HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seven Lions logged double-digit minutes in the contest. 
• Samantha Muller led Molloy with 20 points. Teammates Rosa Rizzitelli (17 points) and Colleen McCullagh (10 points) also scored in double figures.
• Janel Moore led Molloy with five assists on the evening.
• Muller went 6-for-18 from the floor and 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, with Rizzitelli hitting 5 of her 17 field goal attempts and all five of her free throws.
• Rizzitelli grabbed a team-high eight boards for the Lions.
• Molloy picked up 19 steals, with the Spartans turning the ball over on 28 separate occasions.
• The Lions earned advantages in three team statistical categories over St. Thomas Aquinas: Points off Turnover (20-9), Second Chance Points (16-14) and Bench Points (12-8).
• Molloy's largest lead of the contest (one point) came with just over four minutes left in the opening quarter, when the Lions took a 10-9 advantage on a Rosa Rizzitelli three-point jumper.
• Rosa Rizzitelli led the Lions with eight first half points, while shooting 33.3 percent the floor (2-of-6), 67.0 percent from distance (2-of-3) and 100.0 percent from the charity stripe (2-of-2).

UP NEXT:

STAC hosts Queens College on Saturday, January 18 at Aquinas Hall. The Spartans and Knights will tip-off at 1:00 p.m.