Women's Basketball Dominates WV State in Home Opener

(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.)-Thomas More University's women's basketball team defeated West Virginia State 71-48 on Wednesday evening (Nov 19) in their home opener. The Saints overall record improves to 3-0.

• Junior Rylee Leonard (Sardinia, Ohio/Eastern Brown) started things off for the Saints with a driving layup off a turnover to put the Saints on the board 2-0 with 9:00 on the clock.
• Junior Desiree Tandy (Danville, Ky./Danville) made a layup and one to extend the Saints lead to 10-2 with 5:41 remaining in the quarter.
• Junior Izzy Rotert (Harrison, Ohio/Mercy McAuley) knocked in a free throw for the final point of the quarter with 13 seconds on the clock to give the Saints the 26-12 lead at the end of the quarter.
• Junior Morgan Hunt (Hollansburg, Ohio/Tri-Village) drained a 3-point basket to kick things off in the second quarter to make it 29-12 game with 9:49 to play in the half.
• Desiree Tandy made two free throws with 5:51 on the clock to put the Saints up 35-17.
• Rylee Leonard laid in a ball into the basket as time expired to give the Saints a 45-20 lead going into the locker room at the half.
• Rylee Leonard lead with 10 points and four assist in the first half.
• Morgan Hunt followed with seven points and four rebounds.
• Desiree Tandy led with seven rebounds and had five points.
• The Saints were 58.1% (18-31) from the field, 40% (4-10) from the 3-point line, and 55.6% (5-9) from the free throw line in the first half.

• Izzy Rotert drove to the rim for a layup to start the scoring off for the Saints in the second half with 9:11 on the clock (47-22).
• Senior Rylee Turner (Newport, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) made a layup with 6:05 left in the quarter to give the Saints the 51-29 lead.
• Senior Seriniti Webb (Covington, Ky./Simon Kenton) knocked in two free throws for the final points of the third quarter with three seconds remaining (60-40).
• Sophomore Amara Jackson (Huntington, WV/Huntington) made one free throw to start off the fourth quarter to make it a 61-40 game with 9:51 left in the game.
• With 5:25 remaining, junior Laney Baker (West Harrison, Ind./East Central) scored off a fast break in the paint to extend the Saints lead to 65-46.
• Izzy Rotert closed things out with a layup to secure the Saints 71-48 win over the Yellow Jackets with 1:08 left in the game.
• Izzy Rotert led with 10 points in the second half and had three rebounds.
• Desiree Tandy led the team with four rebounds. 
• The Saints were 30.3% (10-33) from the field, 9.1% (1-11) from the 3-point line, and 83.3% (5-6) from the free throw line in the second half. 

• Rylee Leonard led the team with 15 points and a career high of five assists.
• Izzy Rotert set a career high of 13 points, nine rebounds, and one assist.
• Desiree Tandy recorded 11 rebounds to lead the team and had seven points.
• Seriniti Webb tallied 10 points and one rebound.
• Rylee Turner had seven points, six rebounds, and two assists.
• The Saints were 43.8% (28-64) from the field, 23.8% (5-21) from the 3-point line, and 66.7% (10-15) from the free throw line.

The Saints return Saturday (Nov 22) at Charleston (WV) with tip-off at 2:00 pm.