MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. - St. Thomas (1-5) finally got the monkey of its back with a victory over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (1-1).  Tied after three quarters of play, the Bobcats outscored the Janes by five in the final quarter to secure the win by the score of 54-49.

Today marked a special day as the Bobcats honored SMA Awareness Month.  SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) is a disease that deteriorates a victim's physical strength by attacking the motor nerve cells in the spinal cord.  This disease is one that hits close to home for the Bobcat women's basketball team.  Madison Smith, who became an honorary member of the team last season, is a young girl who suffers from SMA.  With this match designated as the SMA Awareness game, it carried heavy implications for the team, who clearly played with a different fervor today.

Supavadee Kunchuan and Katie Rienas led all Bobcat scorers with 13 points each.  Kunchuan shot an efficient 6-8 with most of her work being done down low.  A significant portion of Rienas buckets came from behind the arc, where she shot an impressive 2-3.

Neither team could quite pull away from the other in the first quarter.  The largest lead the Janes maintained was 5 points with 6:01 to go.  The Bobcats would storm back, and Jamesha Willis' fast break layup gave St. Thomas a three point lead  with 2:49 remaining in the period.  UPRM would add another layup to bring the score to 13-12  by the end of the first.

The second quarter was much of the same.  The Bobcats appeared prime to build some separation midway through the quarter.  A Rienas' three pointer followed by another Kunchuan layup in the paint bolstered the Bobcat lead to 22-16 with 4:09 remaining in the half.  The Janes, however, would continue to pester the Bobcats.  Martha Rodriguez scored five points down the stretch and found Mei Ling De Gracia for a three pointer, cutting the St. Thomas lead to 27-26 heading into intermission.

The Bobcats again appeared to be building separation halfway through the third.  Kunchuan took her game to the outside and knocked down her only three of the afternoon.  Wilisha Griner then added one of her two baskets of the match to push the Bobcat lead to 36-31 with 6:05 remaining.  But again, UPRM battled back.  A Rodriguez layup with six seconds to go completed a run in which the Janes outscored St. Thomas 7-2 over the period's final minutes.  The match was even at 38 heading into the fourth.

The even play continued well in through the fourth.  With 5:34 on the clock, De Gracia hit her second three to give the Janes a 49-48 lead.  Both teams would remain scoreless over the next four minutes.  That was until Willis, who struggled at times, came up with the two biggest plays of the match.  With just a minute on the clock, she barrelled into the paint for a layup to reassert the Bobcat lead at 50-49.  Then, on the next defensive possession, she stole the ball from Rodriguez and drew a foul.  She went 1-2 at the line, but the sequence was enough to do in the Janes.  St. Thomas went 3-4 from the line over the game's final seconds to seal the victory at 54-49.

St. Thomas shot only 39% from the field, including 27% from deep, but limited UPRM to 33% shooting.  Although, they cannot be happy with turning the ball over more than the Janes (21-15).  The biggest difference maker throughout was the Bobcats ability to draw fouls.  St. Thomas attempted 23 free throws and made 15.  The Janes only took two free throws and made one.

Other Bobcat contributors included Willis, who finished with 11 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals.  Desanta' Franklin-Jordan came off the bench and provided another 11 points, eight rebounds, one assist, and one steal.  Griner chipped in with six points and five rebounds.

The Bobcats can enjoy a two-week layoff before their conference opener against the Keiser Seahawks (Fla).  Tip-off is set for 2 P.M. E.T. on Saturday, December 5th, at the Fernandez Family Center for Leadership.