(ASHLAND, Ohio) – Thomas More University's women's basketball fell to Ashland on the road, 62-59. The Saints overall record falls to 18-3 and 10-3 in conference action.
- Junior Morgan Hunt (Hollansburg, OH / Tri-Village) opened the game with a layup.
- While the Ashland Eagles maintained control of the lead for a majority of the first quarter, Thomas More took the lead with a 6-0 run to end the first period leading 14-11.
- Redshirt-sophomore Rylee Leonard (Sardinia, OH / Eastern Brown) had eight of those points shooting two mid-range jump shots and going a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line.
- The Saints extended the lead with junior Desiree Tandy (Danville, KY / Danville) getting the first two points of the second quarter at the charity stripe.
- Senior Sereniti Webb's (Covington, KY / Simon Kenton / Midway) only points of the first half on a layup gave Thomas More their largest lead of the night at 22-15 as the teams went to the benches for the media timeout.
- Ashland came out of the timeout at 4:44 and went on an 8-2 run to end the half and hold the Saints scoreless for the final two minutes as the teams headed to the locker room tied at 23.
- The Eagles kept the momentum going in the second half, as they held the visitors scoreless until the 7:41 mark of the third quarter when senior Rylee Turner (Newport, KY / Newport Central Catholic) hit a layup. It was her first of seven points in the period.
- Thomas More briefly took the lead off a fast break layup from Hunt but Ashland responded with a three-pointer and would take a 48-42 lead heading into the final quarter.
- Hunt and Tandy hit back-to-back shots to cut the lead into a one-possession game early in the fourth quarter but Ashland quickly pushed it back to a seven-point lead.
- Both teams turned up the defensive efforts as the next score was almost three minutes later as Tandy hit another layup and Leonard hit a jump shot to bring the score to 53-50 with the Eagles leading with under four minutes to play.
- Sophomore Amara Jackson (Huntington, WV / Huntington) hit a layup and the following free throw to bring the Saints within two points only for the Eagles to hit back-to-back shots and a 59-53 lead.
- Leonard and Turner worked together to bring the Saints back within a possession and forced Ashland to take a timeout.
- Leonard hit her 15th and 16th points of the game with a pair of free throws with eleven seconds remaining, but they were still one point behind. Ashland would close the game with a pair of free throws to make it a 62-59 final.
- Rylee Leonard led the team with a game-high 16 points after shooting 5-12 from inside the arc and 6-6 from the free throw line.
- Rylee Turner (13) and Desiree Tandy (11) also hit double-digit scoring for the Saints. They combined for 9-14 inside the arc and 6-8 from the free throw line.
- Thomas More had three players with six rebounds each. Turner and sophomore Kendall Sterling (Seymour, IN / Seymour) had all of theirs on the defensive end of the court. Junior Izzy Rotert (Harrison, OH / Mercy McAuley) had five on the defensive end and one offensive board.
- The Saints outscored Ashland inside the paint 36-18.
The Saints will look to get back in the win column on Saturday (Feb 7) as they travel to Cedarville. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 PM.
