SPARKILL, N.Y. – The Pace University women's basketball team closed out the calendar year on Sunday afternoon with a tight non-conference loss at St. Thomas Aquinas College, 63-61.

Lauren Schetter (Beacon, NY/Beacon High School) piloted the Pace attack, putting together one of the best games of her young career. The sophomore made 10 of her 12 attempts from the floor to finish with a career-high 24 points. She also hauled in 12 rebounds to mark her first double-double of the season.

Schetter was especially clutch down the stretch, making back-to-back jumpers to cut the Spartans lead to just 63-61 with 38 seconds left. After a defensive stop on the other end, Schetter had one more chance to tie the game, but her final attempt with two seconds left did not fall.

Freshman Brianna Wong (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley) joined Schetter in double figures with 13 points, while Stefanie Svoboda (Ossining, NY/Ossining) and Jackie DelliSanti (Commack, NY/Commack) each chipped in seven. DelliSanti led the Setters with four assists.

Pace outrebounded Saint Thomas Aquinas by a 34-23 margin in the game, including a 15 boards on the offensive side.

After a high-scoring 19-19 first quarter, the Setters took an eight-point edge into the break. They then went on to lead by as many as 10 in the third quarter before a 15-5 Spartans run tied the game at 44-44.

Following another knot at 48-48 with 38 seconds left in the third, a jumper from Saint Thomas Aquinas' Ruth Adams with two seconds remaining gave the Spartans their first lead since the first quarter. STAC would go on to score the first six points of the final frame to gain the necessary separation to hold on to victory.

Up Next
The Setters will host Molloy College for their "Court to Classroom" Day next Friday morning (Jan. 4) at 11 a.m.