The No. 2/4-ranked Thomas More College women’s basketball completed it’s fifth undefeated regular season Saturday, as it defeated Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Washington & Jefferson College, 73-50, at the Henry Memorial Center in Washington, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints end the regular season at 25-0 overall and 18-0 in the PAC. Thomas More will be the No. 1 seed in next week’s PAC Championship Tournament. With the loss, the Presidents end the regular season at 16-9 overall and 13-5 in the PAC. Washington & Jefferson will be the No. 2 seed in the PAC Championship Tournament.
W&J took an early 2-0 when Rachel Bellhy made a lay-up at the 9:17 mark of the first quarter. Thomas More answered with a 6-0 run to take 6-2 lead with 6:32 to play in the first quarter when sophomore guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) made one-of-two free-throws. The Presidents used a 4-0 run capped by a Taylor Cortazzo lay-up to tie the game at 6-6 with 4:20 to play in the opening quarter. The Saints closed out the quarter on a 12-4 run to take an 18-10 lead after one quarter when first-year guard Kylie Kramer (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) made a jumper with six-seconds to play in the quarter.
Thomas More opened the second quarter on a 6-2 run to extend the lead to 24-12 when first-year forward Emily Schultz (Melbourne, Ky./Bishop Brossart) made two free-throws with 7:10 to play in the quarter. W&J answered with a 7-0 run capped by an Alyssa Riley three-pointer with 5:01 to play in the third quarter to cut the lead to 24-19. Junior guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) made one-of-two free-throws at the 3:21 mark of the second quarter to increase the Saints’ lead to 30-20. The Presidents’ closed out the second quarter on a 7-3 run to cut the Saints’ lead at halftime to 33-27 when Danni Medovich made two free-throws with 39-seconds to play in the second quarter.
W&J opened the third quarter on a 6-2 run to cut the lead to 35-33 with 6:08 to play in the quarter when Bellhy made a jumper. Thomas More responded with an 11-2 run capped by a Temple lay-up with 1:54 to play in the third stanza and increase the lead to 46-35. The Presidents used a 5-0 run to cut the lead to 46-40 when Danielle Parker made a lay-up with 10-seconds to play in the third quarter. The Saints came down the court and Kramer made a three-pointer at the buzzer to extend the lead to 49-40 after three quarters.
The Presidents’ opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 51-47 on a Parker lay-up with 6:50 to play in the game. That would be as close as W&J would come as Thomas More closed out the game on a 22-3 run capped by a lay-up by senior forward Kirsten Paul (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Christian) to win the game 73-50.
Thomas More out-scored W&J 38-18 in the paint and 28-7 off turnovers.
The Saints were led in scoring by Owings with a game-high 17 points. She was joined in double-figures by Temple with 14 points, while Schultz ended with nine points, Kramer had eight points and sophomore guard Michaela Ware (Newport, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) had eight points. Junior forward Nikki Kiernan (Cold Springs, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) led the team on the boards with 10 rebounds. Temple led the team in assists with four, while Ware led the team in steals with three.
Thomas More will host the semifinals and finals of the PAC Championship Tournament on Friday and Saturday (February 24-25) at the Connor Convocation Center.
Thomas More men clinch share of PAC title
The Thomas More College men’s basketball team won a share of its third Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) regular season title in program history Saturday, as it defeated Washington & Jefferson College, 65-60, inside the Henry Memorial Center in Washington, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints improve to 19-6 overall and end the PAC regular season with a 15-3 mark. Thomas More will be the No. 2 seed after a tie-breaker with fellow co-PAC regular season champions Saint Vincent College. With the loss, the Presidents end the season at 4-21 overall and 4-14 in the PAC.
In the first half the President raced out to a 28-24 lead with 8:27 to play in the half. Thomas More closed out the opening half on an 11-6 run to cut the lead to 34-25 at halftime when senior guard Sawyer Pauly (Crescent Springs, Ky./Covington Catholic) made a lay-up with 2:33 to play in the half.
The Saints dominated the second half as they out-scored W&J 40-26 and led by as many as 12 points with 2:46 to play in the game before winning the game, 65-60. Thomas More out-scored the Presidents 11-4 off turnovers in the game and 15-5 on second chance points. The Saints also out-rebounded the Presidents 45-26, making it the fifth game in a row that they have out-rebounded their opponent by double digits.
Four Saints scored in double-figures and were led by sophomore guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark) with 14 points. Sophomore guard Brandon Horne (Louisville, Ky./Male) and sophomore guard Ryne Callahan (Morehead, Ky./Rowan County) each finished with 12 points, while junior forward Austin Young (Campbellsburg, Ky./Henry County) added 10 points. Horne and King just missed double-doubles as they pulled down nine and eight rebounds respectively. King led the team in assists with four and Horne led the team in steals with two.
Talking with junior center Simon Clifford (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) about what this win meant to a team that had fought hard all year, he told us, “We are glad we could get it done on the road. We knew it was a big game for both teams and just were glad we could come up with the victory.”
Thomas More will host a PAC Tournament first round game on Tuesday (February 21) at 7 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center.
From Thomas More Athletics
