No. 1 Seed Women's Basketball Advance to the Second Round of the 2023 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship

(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.)-No. 1 seed Thomas More University women's basketball team defeated No. 16 seed Point on Tuesday evening (March 7) in the First Round of the NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship, 73-47.

• Senior Emily Simon (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) made a layup to start the scoring off for the Saints with 9:50 on the clock to put the team on the board 2-0.
• Junior Alex Smith (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) drained a 3-point basket to make it a 12-7 game with 4:58 to play in the first quarter.
• Senior Zoie Barth (Ft. Thomas, Ky./Highlands) drove to the rim a layup and one for the Saints final basket of the first quarter to give the Saints a 21-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• Senior Courtney Hurst (Burlington, Ky./Conner) hit a 3-point shot to kick the second quarter off for the Saints with 8:42 in the first half (24-15).
• With 6:11 to play in the first half, first year Rylee Turner (Newport, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) made a 3-point basket to extend the Saints lead to 30-15.
• Senior Sammi Whiteman (Covington, Ky./Covington drove to the basket for a layup to close out the scoring in the first half to give the Saints a 41-22 lead going into the locker room at the half.
• Zoie Barth led the Saints in the first half with 10 points and three assists and had four rebounds.
• Alex Smith also tallied 10 points to lead the team.
• Rylee Turner led the team defensively with five rebounds in the first half and put up three points.
• The Saints were 45.7% (16-35) from the field, 31.3% (5-16) from the 3-point line, and 66.7% (4-6) from the free throw line in the first half.

• Sophomore Rachel Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) hit a jumper to start things off for the Saints in the second half with 8:28 on the clock (43-24).
• Rylee Turner would drain a 3-point shot with 6:29 to play in the third quarter to give the Saints a 48-31 lead. 
• Alex Smith made one free throw for the Saints final point of the third quarter, giving the team a 61-38 lead going in the final quarter.
• Courtney Hurst made a 3-point basket to kick things off for the Saints in the fourth quarter and give the team a 64-40.
• With 5:53 to play, Rachel Martin knocked in a 3-point shot to extend the Saints lead to 71-42.
• Sammi Whiteman made a jumper for the Saints final basket wil 2:44 to play (73-44).
• Rachel Martin led the Saints with seven points in the second half and had two rebounds.
• Zoie Barth recorded three rebounds to lead the team.
• Emily Simon, junior Kelly Brenner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon), and junior Maggie Jones (Piner, Ky./Simon Kenton) all tallied two assists each to lead the Saints in the second half.
• The Saints were 38.7% (12-31) from the field, 41.6% (5-12) from the 3-point line, and 75% (3-4) from the free throw line in the second half.

• Alex Smith led the team with 13 points and had one rebound.
• Courtney Hurst followed with 12 points, one rebound, and two assists.
• Ryle Turner recorded seven rebounds to lead the team and had six points and one assist.
• Zoie Barth had seven rebounds and four assists to lead the team and had 10 points. 
• Emily Simon had 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
• The Saints were 42.4% (28-66) from the field, 35.7% (10-28) from the 3-point line, and 70% (7-10) from the free throw line. 

The Saints return to action tomorrow (March 8) against the winner of No. 8 Concordia vs No. 9 Columbia at 6:00 pm ET in the Connor Convocation Center.