No. 2 Seed Women's Basketball Falls to No. 7 Seed Shawnee State in MSC Tournament Quarterfinals

(BOWLING GREEN, Ky.)-No. 2 seed Thomas More University women's basketball team fell to No. 7 seed Shawnee State on Friday evening (February 24) 81-79 in the Quarterfinals if the MSC Tournament. The Saints overall record falls to 26-3.

• Senior Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) drained a 3-point basket to start things off for the Saints with 9:23 to go in the first quarter (3-2).
• Junior Alex Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) made a layup with 5:34 to play in the first quarter, to extend the Saints lead to 11-4.
• Junior Maggie Jones (Piner, Ky./Simon Kenton) knocked in a 3-point shot, for the Saints final basket of the quarter with 2:36 to play.
• The Saints led 17-14 going into the second quarter.
• Junior Mattison Vickers (Covington, Ky./Simon Kenton) hit a jump shot to kick off the scoring for the Saints in the second quarter with 8:31 to go (20-18).
• With 4:55 to play in the first half, senior Zoie Barth (Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands) made a layup to make it a 30-27 game.
• Courtney Hurst made the Saints final basket of the half, with a 3-point basket to extend the lead to seven with 1:23 to play in the first half (38-31).
• Courtney Hurst led the Saints with 13 points in the first half.
• Zoie Barth led the team with five assists and had five points and three rebounds.
• First year Rylee Turner (Newport, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) led the Saints defensively with five rebounds and had two points and one assist.
• The Saints were 45.2% (14-31) from the field, 47.1% (8-17) from the 3-point line, and 50% (2-4) from the free throw line in the first half.

• Courtney Hurst drained a 3-point shot for the Saints first basket of the second half with 9:54 on the clock in the third quarter (41-33).
• Alex Smith drove to the rim for a layup, to put the Saints within one with 2:23 to play in the third quarter (54-55).
• Senior Emily Simon (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) knocked in two free throws for the Saints final points of the third quarter and help the team regain the lead (56-55).
• Rylee Turner made two free throws with 6:25 to play to tie the game back up at 65-65.
• With 4:16 to play in the game, Courtney Hurst made a 3-point shot to put the Saints within one.
• Emily Simon made two free throws with 16 second left to put the Saints within one (79-80), but ultimately came up short to Shawnee State 79-81.
• Courtney Hurst led the Saints in the second half with nine points and had one rebound.
• Zoie Barth also tallied nine points to lead the team and had one rebound.
• Junior Rachel Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) and junior Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) both had two assists to lead the Saints in the second half.
• Emily Simon recorded three rebounds to lead the team and had five points and one assist in the second half.
• The Saints were 32.3% (10-31) from the field, 33.3% (6-18) from the 3-point line, and 89.4% (17-19) from the free throw line in the second half.

• Courtney Hurst led the team with 22 points and had one rebound.
• Zoie Barth followed with 14 points and tallied four rebounds and had five assists to lead the team.
• Alex Smith had 12 points, three rebounds, two assists.
• Rylee Turner led the Saints defensively with six rebounds and had six points and two assists.
• Rachel Martin had nine points, two rebounds, and two assists.
• The Saints were 38.7% (24-62) from the field, 40% (14-35) from the 3-point line, and 73.9% (14-35) from the free throw line.

The Saints return to action on March 7-8 in the Opening Round of the NAIA Women's Basketball National Tournament with time and opponent TBD. The Selection Show will take place on Thursday (March 2) at 7:00 pm ET.