(ANN ARBOR, Mich.)-#3 Thomas More University women's basketball team closed out the year 2021 with big 84-61 win over Concordia (Mich.) on Thursday evening (Dec. 30). The Saints overall record improves to 13-1.
- Graduate student Alexah Chrisman (Greendale, Ind./McAuley) kicked the scoring off for the Saints, making two free throws to put the team on the board with 7:56 to play in the first quarter (2-3).
- Transfer sophomore Alex Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) put the Saints within in four points with 5:13 on the clock by draining a 3-point jump shot (5-9).
- With 2:07 to play in the first quarter, sophomore Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) made a 3-pointer to give the Saints the lead for the first time of the night (13-11).
- Senior Taylor Clos (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) made the final basket of the quarter with a layup to put the Saints within one, going into the second quarter (17-18).
- Junior Kenzie Schwarber (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) made a layup to start the second quarter off to give the Saints the lead once again (19-18) and start their 27-0 run over the Cardinals.
- Brenner made a 3-point shot with 4:06 to play in the half to extend the Saints lead to 12 (32-20).
- Smith would close out the scoring for the first half with a layup to give the Saints a 20 point lead going into the locker room (43-23).
- Smith led the Saints with nine points and two assists and had four rebounds.
- Brenner followed with eight points, one rebound, and one assist.
- Chrisman led the Saints defensively with six rebounds.
- The Saints were 43.8% (14-32) from the field, 36.4% (4-11) from the 3-point line, and 73.3% (11-15) from the free throw line in the first half.
- Chrisman kicked the scoring off for the Saints in the second half, making a layup with 9:00 on the clock (45-25).
- Clos would make a jump shot with 6:08 on the clock in the third quarter to extend the Saints lead to 53-29.
- Brenner would close the quarter out by making a 3-point shot to give the Saints a 65-40 lead going into the final quarter.
- Sophomore Maggie Jones (Piner, Ky./Simon Kenton) made a jump shot to start the scoring off for the Saints in the final quarter of the game to put the Saints up 67-42 with 9:25 to play.
- With 5:20 to go in the game, junior Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) drained a 3-point shot to make it 76-45.
- Senior Heaven Evans (Cincinnati, Ohio/ DePaul Cristo Rey) closed out the scoring for the Saints for the night, driving to the basket for a layup to secure the Saints win (84-61).
- Brenner led the Saints in the second half with five points and had one rebound.
- Clos also tallied five points and had four rebounds to lead the team and tallied one rebound.
- Smith led the Saints defensively with five rebounds in the second half.
- The Saints were 45.5% (15-33) from the field, 31.3% (5-16) from the 3-point line, and 60% (6-10) from the free throw line in the second half.
- Brenner led the team with 14 points and had two rebounds and an assist.
- Smith followed with 11 points and two assists and led the team with nine rebounds.
- Chrisman also recorded nine rebounds to lead the team and had eight points.
- Clos led the team with five assists.
- The Saints were 44.6% (29-65) from the field, 33.3% (9-27) from the 3-point line, and 68% (17-25) from the free throw line.
The Saints return back to the court in 2022 against Shawnee State in a Mid-South Conference matchup at 6:00 pm ET in the Connor Convocation Center on Jan. 3.
