Crestview Hills, Ky. - The women's basketball program at Thomas More defeated the 8-4 University of the Cumberlands Patriots by a score of 81-60. With the win the Saints move to 10-1 on the year and 6-0 in Mid-South Conference play.
- Graduate student Alexah Chrisman (Greendale, Ind./McAuley) scored the first basket on the night as junior guard Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) fed Chrisman inside for the layup.
- Looking for a spark Thomas More would make a mass sub that would work out tremendously as sophomore guard Rachel Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) scored 20 seconds after entering the game to make the score 5-4 Cumberlands with 6:05 remaining in the first quarter.
- Sophomore Alex Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) would score eight points in the first quarter to push the Saints lead to 19-13 after one quarter play.
- Sophomore Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) hit back-to-back three's to open up the second quarter to give Thomas More a 25-15 lead with 8:06 to go in the half.
- At the 4:42 mark in the second quarter junior Summer Secrist (Taylor Mill, Ky./Scott) would extend the lead to 14 for the Saints with a pair of free throws.
- Junior Kenzie Schwarber (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) closed out the first half with two free throws, making the score 37-20 heading into the locker room.
- The second half would start the exact same way as the first half as Chrisman would once again make a layup off a feed from Hurst to extend the lead to 19.
- Junior Emily Simon (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) made a layup at the 5:30 mark in the third to give Thomas More a 49-30 lead.
- Martin would close out the third quarter with a 25 foot buzzer beater to make the score 61-43 after three quarters of play.
- Simon started the third quarter with a bang as the junior forward converted an and-one to give the Saints a 21 point lead.
- Senior Heaven Evans (Cincinatti, Ohio/DePaul Cristo Rey) would hit a deep three-pointer to give Thomas More a lead of 79-58.
- First-year Callie Hunt (Trenton, Ohio / Edgewood) closed out the game with a layup off a feed from sophomore Mattison Vickers (Covington, Ky. / Simon Kenton) to bring the final score to 81-60 in favor of the Saints.
- Brenner led the team in scoring with 16, followed by Simon who had 11.
- Junior guard Zoie Barth (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) led the team on the boards with seven.
- Collected 21 assists on 29 made baskets.
- Recorded seven blocked shots as a team on the evening.
- As a team Thomas More shot 53.7% from the field.
- The Saints outrebounded the Patriots by a 31-17 margin.
The women's basketball team will return to the court this Saturday, December 18, when they travel to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the Hoop N Surf Classic, first taking on Doane at 2 p.m. ET/9 a.m. HT.
