Crestview Hills, Ky. - The women's basketball program at Thomas More stayed to their winning way by taking down yet another ranked team as they defeated the #15 ranked Cougars of Saint Xavier by a score of 83-62. With the win the Saints improve to 6-1 on the season.
- Junior Emily Simon scored the first 12 points for Thomas More as she gave the Saints a 12-11 lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter.
- Sophomore Alex Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) scored a layup on a fast break started by junior guard Zoie Barth (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) to give Thomas More a 14-11 lead with 3:52 remaining in the first quarter.
- Sophomore Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) gave the Saints their biggest lead of the first quarter at 22-14 with 1:22 remaining in the first.
- Simon once again started the scoring for Thomas More in the second off a feed from junior guard Taylor Clos (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) to extend their lead to three at 26-23.
- Sophomore guard Sammi Whiteman (Covington, Ohio/Covington) checked in the game and made an immediate impact with a spin move and a basket to give the Saints 35-32 lead with 2:52 remaining in the half.
- Close closed out the first half with two free throws to make the score 41-34 heading into the locker room.
- Simon had 18 points at the break.
- Graduate student Alexah Chrisman (Greendale, Ind./McAuley) scored the first four points in the third quarter for Thomas More to increase their lead to 12 with 8:21 left in the third.
- Junior guard Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) made a three-pointer to give the Saints their biggest lead of the night of 13 with 4:48 remaining in the quarter.
- Smith pushed the lead to 64-49 with 47 seconds to go in the third.
- In a span of 90 seconds Brenner scored seven straight points to make the score 73-57 in favor of Thomas More.
- Clos scored twice over the span of three possessions to give the Saints a commanding 78-57 lead with just over three to go.
- Kenzie Schwarber (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) capped off the scoring for Thomas More with two free throws to bring the final score to 83-62, and a Saints victory.
- Simon led the scoring for both teams with 26 points and five rebounds.
- Chrisman posted a 11 rebound and six-point stat line.
- Clos had 16 points with four assists and was 12-12 from the charity stripe.
- Smith nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
- The Saints were 34-38 from the line shooting at an 89.5% clip.
- Thomas More's bench outscored Saint Xavier's by a 35-20 margin.
The women's basketball team will return to the court on Thursday, December 2, when they travel to Lebanon, Tennessee to take on Cumberland University at 6 p.m. ET.
