SPARKILL, N.Y. – The D'Youville University women's basketball team notched a gutsy double-overtime win against St. Thomas Aquinas College by a score of 81-74 on Sunday.
 
Senior Anna Jankovic (Averill Park, N.Y.) turned in the best performance of her career, scoring a career-high 28 points, grabbing 19 rebounds, dishing out six assists, and recording two steals. Senior Sofie Fuglsang (Oberanven, Luxembourg) also posted a stellar performance, scoring 24 points, dishing out five assists, and grabbing four rebounds. Freshman Aliviya Vallone Russell (Buffalo, N.Y.) added 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals in the winning effort.
 
The Saints were slow coming out of the gate, as Vallone Russell got them on the board with a three-pointer at the 5:18 mark in the first quarter. Fuglsang tied the game at 6-6 with a three-pointer and junior Morgan Giancaterino (Orchard Park, N.Y.) put DYU ahead 8-6 with 4:10 remaining in the quarter. However, St. Thomas Aquinas closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 13-8 lead.
 
The Spartans continued to roll as the game shifted to the second quarter, beginning the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 23-10 advantage. Freshman Samantha Ruhlman (Warren, Pa.) and Jankovic both knocked down three-pointers to cut the deficit to 23-16 with 3:15 left in the quarter. St. Thomas Aquinas extended their lead back up to nine and the Saints went into halftime trailing 27-18.
 
Junior Isabella Kostyal-Larrier (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) drained a three-pointer to trim the deficit to six early in the third quarter. Jankovic and Fuglsang both cashed in from beyond the arc as well to trim the Spartans' lead to 34-30. Ruhlman brought the Saints within one with a three-pointer and Jankovic gave them their first lead of the day with a layup, making it 37-36 with 3:51 to go in the quarter. DYU continued their hot streak from three-point land as Vallone Russell knocked one down to keep them in front 43-41. St. Thomas Aquinas surged back in front with six-straight points and led 47-43 at the end of the quarter.
 
Jankovic sank a triple to pull the Saints back within one early in the fourth quarter, but eight-straight points from the Spartans put them in a nine-point hole with 7:09 left to play. Three-pointers from Fuglsang and Vallone Russell cut St. Thomas Aquinas's lead to 59-57 with 3:34 remaining. The two teams traded three-pointers and it remained a two-point game with under two minutes to play. Down by three with five seconds left in regulation, Fuglsang buried a three-pointer to tie it and send the game to overtime.
 
The Spartans went ahead by four to begin the overtime period, but Jankovic put in a layup to make it 68-66. With forty seconds remaining in the period, Fuglsang came up clutch again for DYU, knocking down another three-pointer to tie the game at 69-69 and ultimately send the game to a second overtime period.
 
Fuglsang put the Saints ahead 72-70 with a layup to start double overtime. Jankovic extended the lead to five with a layup and free throw. After the Spartans drew back within one, Jankovic drilled a three-pointer to make it 78-74 with 1:06 remaining. This proved to be the dagger, as St. Thomas Aquinas was forced to foul, and the Saints converted their free throws to secure the 81-74 come-from-behind victory.
 
With the win, D'Youville improves to 6-15 and 4-8 in the ECC, putting them on the cusp of a playoff spot with four games left to play. They will be back in action on Friday when they host Queens College at 5:30 p.m. at the Saints Center.