By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
They will not win many games getting off the bus or in the pregame shootaround.
But they’re 20-0 and the No. 1-ranked NAIA defending national champions because what the Thomas More women do doesn’t show up until the game starts – and then when you check out the final scorebook.
TMU’s Zoie Barth
They take good shots. They make good shots. They make you take bad shots, if you don’t turn the ball over first. They’re deep. They’re interchangeable. They can all post up and make your guards guard them in the lane. They can go with their left hands. They can hit the three. They can take your three-point shooters away.
You don’t see that in pregame.
But you saw it Thursday as the Saints women won another just like so many of the others. It was 11-2 before a now 12-8 Georgetown team that’s receiving votes in the latest NAIA poll knew what hit them.
“They put ‘em down quick,” super sixth-man Alex Smith said of the Saints starters on the way to a 79-51 romp in this Mid-South Conference game.
Smith didn’t slow things down with eight points in her first four minutes in the game, taking it to 18-5.
“Even if we’re lacking height and strength,” said senior Zoie Barth who makes this team go, “no matter what the other team is like . . . “
Which is exactly the point. It doesn’t matter. The other team may have the edge when it comes to reading its roster – Georgetown has a pair of Division I transfers, TMU has no transfers. And a roster that has 13 of the 17 from Greater Cincinnati high schools in the Tri-State whose scores will be in local media.
“I think we’re super-deep,” Barth said of what sets the Saints apart, although her game-high 19 points certainly helped here. “We have the kinds of girls who come in like Alex and play at the level of the starters.”
And then some — on a night like this. Everybody knows how to make that quick cut to the ball. And how to get it to the cutter. And what to do when the shot clock is winding down, as the TMU bench counts down.
“It’s easy to come in and play,” Smith said, “we’re really an unselfish team.” With Smith and Kelly Brenner each scoring nine points off the bench, subs contributed 34 of TMU’s 79 points with five others scoring.
TME Coach Jeff Hans checks in with former NKU men’s coach Kenney Shields, the all-time winningest basketball in Northern Kentucky history
Emily Simon’s 14 points and team-high seven rebounds contributed to the quick start that had TMU on top, 27-10, after the first period. The Saints had doubled the score, 42-21, by halftime and this became a chance for everybody to get playing time, which 14 Saints did.
TMU Coach Jeff Hans liked his team’s rebounding. “They (Georgetown) didn’t get an offensive rebound the first half.”
But the Saints, on the way to a 35-23 rebounding edge for the game, got a bunch. And in bunches. As many as three in a possession.
They also won the steals battle, picking off 11 with many more deflections, something the TMU bench charts.
But just getting home after two weeks on the road was the best thing that happened here, Barth and Hans said.
“We haven’t been here in a long time,” Barth said, “it’s incredible having our home fans.”
“It really is good to be back, playing in front of our students and family,” Hans said. And the band was here. And with a No. 1 team in the nation, the parking lots fill up early.
“We got that 11-2 start,” Hans said, “we made threes and played defense all night. We dictated where they went with their offense with our defense.”
Zoie Barth and Alex Smith
One place the Saints wouldn’t allow Georgetown to go with any success was the three-point line. The Tigers were 0-10 from deep. The Saints, meanwhile, were eight of 21 from downtown.
Again, you don’t necessarily see that discrepancy in pregame, where no one is being guarded. Defense makes the difference.
TMU allowed just four assists (to the Saints’ 11) and no Tiger reached double figures.
The home stand will be brief for the Saints, who travel with the men for a doubleheader Saturday at Cumberland in Williamsburg. TMU won the first game between the teams, 94-74, here in December. The Cumberland women are 15-4 (9-4 in the MSC). TMU is 14-0 in the MSC.
BOX SCORE
GEORGETOWN (12-8, 8-6 MSC): Smith 0-0-0-0, Toller 2-0-2-6, Darnell 3-0-0-6, Lamperly 3-0-1-7, Landversicht 2-0-2-6, Suljemani 1-0-2-4, Stevenson 4-0-1-9, Rogers 1-0-5-7, Jackson 0-0-0-0, Wilson 1-0-2-4, Harris 1-0-0-2, TOTALS: 18-0-15-51.
THOMAS MORE (20-0, 14-0 MSC): Turner 0-0-1-1, Hurst 1-0-0-2, Barth 5-3-6-19, Simon 4-1-5-14, Martin 4-1-0-9, Smith 3-1-2-9, Brenner 4-1-0-9, Jones 1-0-0-2, Vickers 1-1-2-5, Whiteman 1-0-0-2, Noel 2-1-0-5, Hunt 0-0-0-0, Morgan 1-0-0-2, Elswick 0-0-0-0, TOTALS: 27-9-16-79.
