NKyTribune staff
Having not lost a regular-season game in more than a year, the Thomas More University women’s basketball team faced a major road test Saturday when the Saints played at Wisconsin-Whitewater in a battle of nationally ranked teams in the NCAA Division III poll.
It’s safe to say Thomas More successfully passed the rugged test, as the fourth-ranked Saints cruised to a 69-48 victory over the 17th-ranked Warhawks. Thomas More held UW-Whitewater to 27.1 percent shooting from the field, including 7.1 percent (1-for-14) from 3-point range.
Madison Temple
Freshman guard Asyah Mitchell finished with 15 points and four rebounds. The Saints shot 44.2 percent from the field, including 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from behind the 3-point arc.
Thomas More jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first two minutes and owned an 18-point advantage early in the second quarter. The Warhawks (4-2) pulled to within 11 points in the third quarter, but the Saints built their advantage to 55-38 going into the fourth. Thomas More then used a 9-0 run early in the final stanza to extend its lead to 66-42 and coasted to the win.
Shelby Rupp grabbed seven rebounds and added two blocked shots for the Saints, while teammate Briana McNutt scored eight points. Thomas More, which posted a 30-2 record in 2017-18 and advanced to the NCAA Division III Final Four, has not lost a regular-season game in more than a year.
The Saints’ last defeat in the regular season occurred on Nov. 18, 2017, when Rochester (N.Y.) pulled out a 61-58 win over visiting Thomas More.
The road tests get even more difficult on Monday for Thomas More, which faces fifth-ranked Chicago at 7 p.m.
(Information compiled from Thomas More and staff reports)
