SPARKILL, N.Y. – The Setters earned their fifth straight victory on Sunday after knocking off St. Thomas Aquinas on the road. The Setters had three players score in double figures including Yuni Sher and Gabriella Rubin who each registered double-doubles. With the win, Pace advances to 7-6, 2-4 NE-10 while the Spartans drop to 6-7, 2-2 ECC.

Sher scored the first two baskets of the game for Pace to help the Setters jump to an early 6-2 lead. After the Spartans knotted things at six-all, triples by Christina Rubin and Jaclyn Oskam led Pace to seven consecutive points. Pace led 15-11 with 9:16 remaining when senior Margo Hackett added a pair of points from the stripe, followed by a three-pointer, increasing the lead to 20-11. After the Spartans ended the half on a 10-4 rally, Pace entered the break with a 24-21 advantage.

Freshman G. Rubin was the story of the second half after scoring a team-best 12 points. She kicked off the period with a converted layup at the 18:59 mark to begin the scoring for Pace. The Spartans tied the score three times by 14:25, but each tie was answered by a Setter basket to help Pace stay on top. The Setters fell down by five points with 10:02 remaining when G. Rubin connected on a layup, drew the foul, and hit the free throw for the three-point play. Just over a minute later, with 8:07 remaining, Oskam rattled a shot from behind the arc to put Pace back up 43-42.

STAC fought back to build a six point lead with 2:47 on the clock when the Setters began their rally. C. Rubin and Sher combined to go 4-4 from the charity stripe between 2:02 and 1:35 to cut the Spartan advantage to just two points. Then, with 49 seconds remaining, C. Rubin drilled the game-tying jumper in what was just her second game as a member of the Setters. The score remained tied at 55-55 and the two teams advanced to an overtime period.

Sher began the scoring and broke the tie with a converted layup at the 4:15 mark to put Pace up a bucket. After St. Thomas Aquinas converted a pair of free throws to knot things up again, the newcomer C. Rubin answered again with a basket from distance to give the Setters a three-point advantage. The Spartans answered with four consecutive free throws to go back on top, but G. Rubin netted a jumper with 30 seconds remaining that saw Pace reclaim the lead. With the Setters on defense clinging to a one-point lead, C. Rubin forced a key steal and went to the line after STAC committed the quick foul. She went 2-2 from the stripe to secure the victory, as Pace defeated STAC, 64-61.

G. Rubin led Pace with 14 points to go along with ten rebounds and a team-best four assists. Sher netted 13 points with 11 rebounds and a trio of steals. C. Rubin added 12 points with two rebounds while Oskam registered eight points, six rebounds, and three assists.

The Setters hope to make it six wins in a row when they travel to North Andover, Mass. to take on Merrimack on Wednesday, January 7^th.