MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Top seeded St. Thomas (25-4) defeated Warner (9-19) 66-52 in the quarterfinals of The Sun Conference tournament.  With the win, the Bobcats will host The Sun Conference Championship Final Four beginning Friday.
 
Dannisha Pierce, who was named NAIA National Player of the Week earlier in the day, led all scorers with 15 points.  She also pulled down nine rebounds to go along with two steals and two blocked shots. 
 
Cleyder Blanco led all players on the boards with 12 rebounds.  Desanta' Franklin-Jordan scored 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting on three-pointers.  Jamesha Willis also scored 14 points shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.  Antishia Wright scored in double figures as well with 10 points and led all players with five assists.
 
After trailing 5-1 in the game's early minutes, the Bobcats outscored the Royals 28-8 for the rest of the first half to take a 29-13 lead into intermission.  STU never looked back, not allowing its lead to fall below 12 points for the remainder of the game.
 
The Bobcats won with defense, holding the Royals to just 17% shooting in the first half and 37% for the game.  Warner turned the ball over 22 times.
 
St. Thomas will play the winner of Tuesday night's Embry-Riddle-Thomas game on Friday at 7 p.m in the conference semifinals of The Sun Conference Women's Basketball Championship Presented by Don Shula's Hotel & Golf Club.  The first of the two semifinals will take place on Friday at 5 p.m.  The Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Fernandez Family Center.