The Aquinas women's basketball team nearly erased a 19-point deficit against (RV) Rochester, but end up falling in the WHAC road match-up on Thursday evening (Jan. 6) in Rochester Hills, Michigan. After cutting the deficit to one point with seven seconds remaining on the clock, the last second layup attempt rimmed out as the Saints fell to the Warriors 70-68.
Aquinas' overall record now stands at 9-9 on the season with a 4-4 WHAC record, while Rochester, who is receiving votes in the top-25 poll, improves its record to 13-5 on the season and 8-1 within the conference.
The Warriors took command of the game early on, starting the first quarter off on a 10-2 run and ended up leading 18-11 after 10 minutes of play. The Saints came out in the second period fighting, grabbing the 33-32 lead with 2:24 on the clock. After exchanging buckets down the stretch before halftime, it was RU who held the 37-36 advantage at the break.
Rochester came out of the locker room on fire, hitting on nine of its 16 shot attempts with five of the coming from downtown. The Warriors led by as much as 19 in the quarter and were up 62-47 heading into the final quarter. The Saints built on their last four points they scored in the third quarter by cutting the deficit to single digits with 6:35 remaining. AQ then scored 11 of the next 16 points to have the scoreboard read 69-68 with 20 seconds left and just down by a single point. After Aquinas fouled with seven seconds on the clock, Rochester went one of two from the free throw line giving the Saints a chance to force overtime with a single bucket. AQ was able to get both a layup and three-point attempt off in the final seconds, but neither were true to give RU the two-point win.
Marissa Brady led the team in scoring by finishing with 18 points to go along with her 11 rebounds for the 11th double-double on the season. Daz'Sha Day had her best offensive output in nearly two months, scoring 16 points with four rebounds and two assists. Emily Cline was the third Saint in double figures, finishing with her highest point total of her freshman season at 10 to go along with her five boards, block, and steal.
Alexis Thomas was the leader in the assist category for AQ with four. Brighton Miller (9), Thomas (6), Destini Lewis (4), Delaney Bailey (3), and Jordyn Wigg (2) rounded out the scoring for Aquinas.
The Saints finished with a 36.9% field goal percentage after making 24-65 shots, including 5-18 from behind the arc and 15-23 from the free throw line. The Warriors went 26-64 from the floor for a 40.6% shooting percentage, while going 12-28 from downtown and 6-8 from the charity stripe.
Aquinas outrebounded Rochester by a 40-28 margin, while also finishing with more blocks (4-1) and turnovers (17-10). The Warriors held advantages in assists (20-10) and steals (10-4). The Saints collected more second chance points (11-4) and points in the paint (30-24), while RU scored more points off turnovers (18-10) and bench points (28-19).
Aquinas will next play on the road against Siena Heights on Saturday (Jan. 8) in Adrian, Michigan, with tip-off scheduled for 5:00 PM.
