(BETHANY, W.Va.) - Sophomore guard Katie Kitchen (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) and junior guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) each scored 17 points to lead the 17th-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball team to an 83-64 win over Bethany College today (Saturday, December 10, 2011) in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game at Hummel Field House in Bethany, West Virginia.
With the win, the Saints improve to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the PAC. With the loss, the Bison fall to 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the PAC.
Bethany jumped out to an early 3-2 lead when Renee Shephard made a three-pointer at the 18:50 mark of the first half. Thomas More answered with an 18-9 run capped by a lay-up by junior forward/center Katie Kees (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) to give the Saints an 20-12 lead with 12:04 to play in the opening half. The Bison responded with a 14-7 run to cut the lead to 27-26 with 6:58 to play in the half when Kelly Zogran made a lay-up. The Saints closed out the half on a 17-5 run to take a 44-31 lead halftime when Kitchen made two free-throws with eight-seconds to play in the half.
Thomas More opened the second half on a 14-3 run to build a 58-34 lead when Kees made a lay-up with 14:57 to play in the game. Bethany used a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 60-44 when Carly Garneau made two free-throws with 10:04 to play in the game. That would be as close as the Bison would come as the Saints led by as many as 27 points when Kees made a lay-up with 3:33 to play in the game to make the score 76-49 and the Saints cruised from there for the 83-64 win.
Kees joined Kitchen and Long in double-figure scoring as she finished with 12 points. Sophomore foward Moriah Corey (Louisville, Ky./Butcher) led the Saints on the boards with six rebounds, while Long led the team in assists with seven and freshman forward Jenny Burgoyne (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) led the team in steals with four.
Thomas More is idle until next Saturday (December 17) when it hosts Wittenberg University at 1 p.m. in a nonconference game at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
