SPARKILL, N.Y. – Graduate shooting guard Maya Klein scored a career-high 20 points on a blistering 7-for-11 shooting for Post University Women's Basketball, but the Eagles were unable to keep up with St. Thomas Aquinas in their Tuesday evening matchup, falling 70-57 on the road. Junior guard Naj White also finished in double-digits with 10 points, a season-high for her.

THE BASICS

Post University 57, St. Thomas Aquinas 70  

Post University (1-3)

St. Thomas Aquinas (2-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Klein's big day would get off to a hot start as the graduate student, scoring seven of her 20 points in a back-and-forth opening quarter. Post would lead by four at one point, 10-6, following a Klein jumper and a jumper from graduate point guard Le'Sandra Turner before the Spartans went on a 7-0 run to take a three-point lead. White would tie the game at 13 all with her three pointer, but freshman guard Bailey Chapman's basket-and-one play sent St. Thomas Aquinas into the second quarter with a three point lead, 16-13.
 
Freshman forward Delaney Finnegan would extend the Spartans lead to nine, 24-15, their largest lead of the first half, hitting a layup with 6:08 left before Post would mount a response. Spurred on by two free throws from Klein, an 11-2 run for the Eagles behind six free throws and another three by Klein saw them tie the game up at 26 with two minutes remaining in the half. The Spartans would regain momentum heading into the break as they lead by four after a free throw from junior guard Sarah Ericson and a buzzer beater three by sophomore guard Trinity Cheatom, 32-28.
 
Coming out of the break, Post took their first lead of the game since 10-6 in the first quarter with 6:16 left courtesy of another three by Klein, 37-36. That would be the last time in which the Eagles would find themselves ahead as amidst a cold four-minute stretch for both teams, the Spartans scored all five points during that time to jump ahead by four, 41-37. Another strong finish to a quarter gave St. Thomas Aquinas their first double-digit lead of the game, 49-39, as Ericson buried another buzzer-beating jumper.
 
A quick offensive attack in the first two minutes of the fourth quickly cut the Spartan lead to just three points following Klein's fourth three of the evening, 49-46, but after that the Post offense would go cold. St. Thomas Aquinas would embark on a 14-0 run while the Eagles would go 0-for-4 from the field, 0-for-2 from the free throw line, and commit two turnovers during that five-minute run. The now 17-point lead for the Spartans would hold up over the final three minutes as Post dropped their second consecutive game, 70-57.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Grabbing 15 rebounds, graduate forward Taina Pagan finished with a new season high, surpassing her 14-rebound game against Assumption – Pagan set her career-high against Caldwell back in 2019-20 with 18 rebounds versus Chestnut Hill College
• Maya Klein's 4-for-8 shooting day from beyond the arc was her season-best, she is now shooting 29.2% from three-point range this season
• The Spartans saw three players finished in double figures with Sarah Ericson leading the way with 18 points and going 9-for-11 from the free throw line
• For St. Thomas Aquinas, this was the first time beating Post University since the 2008-09 season – the Spartans are now 2-2 against the Eagles and 2-1 at home in the matchup

WHO'S NEXT
Post University has the rest of the holiday week off before returning to action on Sunday afternoon for a matchup against Southern New Hampshire University at the Drubner Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 PM.  The Eagles are 0-7 all-time against the Penmen, losing last season, 62-43, but have not faced Southern New Hampshire at home since the 2012-13 season. This season, SNHU is currently ranked fourth regionally in the latest D2CSC Women's Basketball Poll.