(WASHINGTON, Pa.) – The No. 2/4-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball completed it's fifth undefeated regular season today (Saturday, February 18, 2017) 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. The PAC office will announce the tournament bracket and game times on the PAC website www.pacathletics.org later tonight.
