Pulaski, Tenn. - The women's basketball program at Thomas More won their 18th consecutive game on Thursday (January 27) night after a dominate second half performance.
- Thomas More would score their first points of the night almost three minutes in as sophomore guard Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) hit a three off an assist from sophomore guard Maggie Jones (Piner, Ky./Simon Kenton) to make the score 5-3 in favor of UT Southern.
- Junior guard Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) would tie the game up at 11 with a three of her own off an assist from Brenner at the 3:30 mark in the first.
- Hurst would close out the first quarter with another three to make the score 22-16, UT Southern after one.
- Senior guard Taylor Clos (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) added her first points on the night with a pair of free throws to cut the Firehawks lead to 32-20.
- Brenner would make back-to-back three pointers within a one minute span to cut the deficit to 32-26 with just over five to go in the first half.
- Sophomore Alex Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) would cut the lead down to three after knocking home a deep three, before UT Southern would go back down the floor and score two right before the half, making the score 41-36 heading into the locker rooms.
- Clos would cut to the basket and would be found by graduate forward Alexah Chrisman (Greendale, Ind./McAuley) to grab the first lead of the night for the Saints at 43-42.
- Smith would find guard Emily Simon (Hilliard, Ohio/Hillard Davidson) to stretch the lead out to nine for Thomas More at 53-44 with 3:26 to go in the third.
- With just four seconds left in the third Smith crashed the offensive boards and put the ball back up for two to give the Saints a 59-52 heading into the final quarter of play.
- Thomas More came out firing in the final frame as their first four baskets were all threes to push the lead to 17 at 71-54 with 6:18 to go.
- Hurst would once again score three's on back-to-back possessions to give the Saints a commanding 81-58 lead.
- Sophomore Mattison Vickers (Covington, Ky./Simon Kenton) would splash home a three of her own to give Thomas More their final points of the night leading to a 86-59 lead.
- The Saints allowed only 18 points in the second half.
- Smith led the team in points with 21, followed by Hurst with 20, and Brenner with 17. The trio combined to make 16 threes between them.
- Hurst also led the team in rebounds with seven, followed by Smith who had five.
- Sophomore guard Rachel Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) played the facilitator role with six assists.
- Shot 33-60 from the field for 55% shooting and 18 of 32 from deep for a 56.3% rate.
- Outrebounded UT Southern 32-18.
- The Saints bench outscored the Firehawks bench by a 43-11 margin.
- Thomas More assisted on 24 of their 33 made baskets.
The women's basketball team will return to the court on Saturday, January 29, when they travel to Marietta, Georgia to Take on Life University at 2 p.m. ET.
