The Aquinas women's basketball team gutted out a WHAC home win over UNOH on Monday evening (Jan. 31) in Sturrus Center. The Saints forced 26 Racer turnovers and held them to single digits in three of the four quarters in the 46-35 victory.
AQ's overall record improves back over .500 at 13-12 on the season with an 8-7 conference record, pushing back into the fifth spot in the WHAC over Lawrence Tech. UNOH now has a record of 3-14 on the year and are 1-11 within the conference.
Eliza Brown started off the game with a three-point basket as the Saints led wire-to-wire in the win. AQ held UNOH to only three buckets in the first 10 minutes of play as the Saints held a seven point lead at the end of the quarter.
Marissa Brady had as many points as the Racers did in the first half at 13, while also securing her 15th double-double on the season. Aquinas' biggest lead of the half was 11 as the score read 24-13 heading into halftime.
The defensive pressure stayed steady in the third quarter to hold UNOH to nine points. Five different Saints scored in the quarter as they were able to push their lead up to 16 after ending the quarter on a 7-0 run. AQ maintained its double digit lead throughout the fourth quarter and came away with the 46-35 win.
Aquinas went 15-54 from the field and 14-21 from the free throw line as UNOH was able to make 14-41 shot attempts.
Brady paced the Saints in points (18), rebounds (16), and blocks (7) to nearly complete a triple-double, while also adding an assist. Nationally, Brady ranks in the top-five in blocks (93), rebounds (267), and defensive rebounds (208) on the season.
Daz'Sha Day collected a team-high three assists to go along with her seven points, four steals, and four rebounds.
JaKarri Alven also contributed eight points, three steals, and three rebounds.
Jordyn Wigg tied with Day for the most steals on the night with four, while also scoring four points, grabbing three rebounds, and dishing out two assists. Brown ended the night with five points, five rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Emily Cline made an impact off the bench defensively, finishing with three steals.
Aquinas held advantages in the rebounding (37-32), steals (15-6), and blocks (7-3) departments, while UNOH had more assists (10-9). AQ forced UNOH into 26 turnovers and turned the ball over 13 times themselves. The Saints dominated the points in the paint (24-8), second chance points (12-6), points off turnovers (13-8), and fast break points (4-0) categories as the Racers finished with more points off the bench (9-4).
With Wednesday's (Feb. 2) game versus Madonna being moved to next Monday (Feb. 7) due to impending weather, Aquinas will not play again until Saturday (Feb. 5) on the road against Concordia with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 PM.
