NKyTribune staff
Zoie Barth scored 25 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists on Saturday as top-seeded Thomas More posted an 82-67 win over No. 8 seed Martin Methodist in the quarterfinals of the Mid-South Conference Tournament at Bowling Green.
Briana McNutt added 16 points — all in the first half — for Thomas More, which improved to 23-1. Alexah Chrisman finished with 10 points and seven rebounds as the Saints rallied from an early 16-6 deficit.
Thomas More’s Briana McNutt
Martin Methodist (7-13) scored the first seven points of the game and eventually opened up a 16-6 lead. Thomas More ended the first quarter by scoring the last seven points to trim the deficit to 16-13.
The RedHawks started the second quarter scoring seven of the first 10 points to increase their lead to 23-16. Thomas More responded with a 13-3 run to gain a 29-26 advantage. Martin Methodist cut the deficit to one before the Saints ended the half on a 9-3 run to lead 38-31 at the break.
Thomas More shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first half. The RedHawks finished the first half shooting 41.9 percent from the field. McNutt led the Saints first-half scoring with 16 points.
Faith Sherrow netted 11 points in the opening half for Martin Methodist.
Thomas More used an 11-2 run to increase its lead to 51-39 with four minutes left in the third quarter. The Saints closed out the third quarter on a 12-4 run to extend their advantage to 63-46.
Sherrow led the RedHawks with a team-high 22 points. Erin Freeman scored 21 points Martin Methodist, while teammate Nicole Shirley added 10 points.
Summer Secrist scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds for Thomas More, which is ranked No. 1 nationally in the NAIA poll. Maggie Jones chipped in seven points off the bench, including a pair of 3-pointers. Taylor Clos finished with seven points, four rebounds and three assists.
Thomas More will meet fifth-seeded Shawnee State in the tournament semifinals at 1 p.m. Monday. The Mid-South Conference Tournament championship game is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m.
HANS EARNS COACHING HONOR: Thomas More’s Jeff Hans has been named the Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year in women’s basketball. Hans guided the Saints to the Mid-South Conference regular-season title and a No. 1 national ranking in the NAIA poll.
In addition, Thomas More has been selected to host an opening-round three-team pod in the NAIA Tournament March 12-13. The winner of that pod advances to the national finals in Sioux City, Iowa.
(Information compiled from the Mid-South Conference and staff reports)
