(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) – The Thomas More University women's basketball team completed their regular season home slate on Thursday evening with an 81-54 defeat of the Shawnee State University Bears. The Saints are now 26-1 overall and 20-1 in the Mid-South Conference.
- The Saints came right out of the gates, seven seconds into the contest with a three-pointer by junior Rachel Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day).
- A Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) three-pointer, later on, gave Thomas More an 18-6 advantage with 3:16 to play in the first quarter.
- A late Sammi Whiteman (Covington, Ohio/Covington/Trevecca Nazarene University) layup gave the Saints a 21-10 lead after the first ten minutes.
- Thomas More knocked down three of their five shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
- A fastbreak layup for the Bears cut the lead to nine at 27-18 with 4:41 remaining in the half.
- However, an 8-0 run by Thomas More, led by four Zoie Barth (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) points brought the lead out to 17 at 35-18.
- The halftime lead for the Saints was 42-25.
- Shawnee State cut the lead to 12 early in the third at 43-31, but a 17-6 Saints rally shut down any momentum for the Bears and gave them a 23-point 60-37 lead.
- The lead would become 64-37 at the end of the third quarter.
- Thomas More would never lead by less than 23 in the final quarter en route to their 81-54 victory.
- Emily Simon (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson/University of Charleston) scored her 1,000th career collegiate point tonight. She has scored 845 points in her Saints career while scoring 160 in her first year of college at the University of Charleston.
- She tied for the team lead (11 points) with Martin and Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner).
- Simon led the team with 10 rebounds, collecting her fifth double-double of the season.
- Simon and Hurst both tied for the team lead with four assists.
- Brenner led the team with three steals.
Thomas More plays their final game of the regular season on the road Saturday afternoon at the University of Pikeville, with game time slated for 1:00 p.m. They beat the Bears in Crestview Hills 62-57 back on Dec. 8, 2022.
