(PIKEVILLE, Ky.) – The 21st-ranked Thomas More University women's basketball team fell, 69-62, to the University of Pikeville, who is receiving votes in the national poll, tonight (Monday, January 6, 2020) in a Mid-South Conference game at UPIKE Gymnasium in Pikeville, Kentucky.
- Thomas More jumped out to a 10-5 lead with 7:06 to play in the first half when first-year guard Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) made a three-pointer.
- The Bears used a 5-2 run capped by a Brianna Burbridge jumper to cut the lead to 12-10 with 56-seconds to play in the opening quarter.
- The Saints closed the quarter on a 2-1 run to take a 14-11 lead after one quarter.
- Pikeville opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 23-16 lead when Yurlei Estrada made a jumper with 4:49 to play in the second quarter.
- Thomas More answered with a 10-2 run to take 26-25 lead with 2:23 to play in the second quarter when senior guard Kaela Saner (Florence, Ky./Boone County) made a three-pointer.
- UPike closed the first half on an 11-3 run to take a 36-29 lead at halftime when Burbridge made a jumper with three-seconds to play in the second quarter.
- Saner finished the first half with six points and three assists.
- Hurst added six sports
- Sophomore guard Lucy Carrigan (Rising Sun, Ind./Rising Sun) added five points.
- The Bears opened the third quarter on a 9-6 run to extend the lead to 45-35 with 6:27 to play in the third quarter when Theodora Odia made a three-pointer.
- Saner made a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to cap a 15-3 run to give Thomas More a 50-48 lead after three quarters.
- Pikeville opened the third quarter on a 13-4 run to build a 61-54 lead with 4:18 to play in the game when Kayla Mullins made a three-pointer.
- Thomas More responded with an 8-5 run capped by a Hurst three-pointer to cut the lead to 66-6-2 with 1:26 to play in the game.
- That would be as close at Thomas More would come as Pikeville closed out the game on a 3-0 run to post the 69-62 victory.
- Senior forward Emily Schultz (Melbourne, Ky./Bishop Brossart) led the team in the second half as she had 11 points and six rebounds.
- Saner had eight points and three rebounds in the second half.
- First-year guard Zoie Barth (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) finished with six points and five rebounds in the final two quarters.
- Thomas More falls to 11-5 overall and 0-3 in the Mid-South.
- Pikeville improves to 13-5 overall and 3-1 in the Mid-South.
- Schultz led the Saints as she had 15 points and eight rebounds.
- Saner added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists.
- Hurst just missed double-figure scoring with nine points.
- Barth had six points and six rebounds.
- Thomas More returns to action on Thursday (January 9) when it hosts Georgetown (Ky.) College at 6 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
