By Glenn Osborne
Special to NKyTribune
Heading into March, two state schools were looking at unbeaten records and taking dead aim at national championships.
One, John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats, stand four games away from that goal after winning their opening two NCAA tournament games in Louisville last weekend. The other? Mission accomplished.
Thomas More’s women’s team returned home Sunday afternoon from Grand Rapids, Mich., where they captured the NCAA Division III title. It was the first national championship in any sport for Thomas More and it capped a remarkable two-year run for coach Jeff Hans’ Saints that not so surprisingly coincided with the arrival of junior guard/forward Sydney Moss, who transferred from Florida.
Yes, that Florida.

Moss, the Division III Player of the Year, was also named MVP of the tournament after posting a triple double in the Saints’ 83-63 win over George Fox. George Fox was also unbeaten heading into the contest and ranked No. 3 behind top-rated Thomas More. Moss actually had her lowest scoring game of the tourney with 19 points to go with 16 rebounds and 11 assists.
In a 62-52 win over No. 5 Tufts in the semifinals, Moss put up 23 points, running her tournament total to a record 178, topping the previous mark held by Sheryl Swoopes. The record is now 197 and don’t be surprised if Moss doesn’t challenge the mark again next season.
Moss is the daughter of former NFL wide receiver Randy Moss, but she doesn’t like to talk about it. Her game on the floor does all her talking for her.
Since Moss arrived in Crestview Hills, the Saints have a record of 64-1, the loss coming in the NCAA Sectional semifinals to Whitman, a game in which Moss was lost due to a torn ligament in her right knee. That injury occurred on March 15, 2014, yet Moss returned better than ever last November and helped complete the mission the Saints had been on.
“We don’t see that kind of athleticism in D-III,” Tufts coach Carla Berube, told the New York Times (read here). “She’s a complete player. Even after the A.C.L., it doesn’t look like she’s missed a beat. She can cross over, hit step-back threes, slash, hang in the air at the rim.”
By the way, Thomas More is far from a one-woman team. Abby Owings also made the All-Tournament team after scoring 17 points in the title game and freshman Nikki Kiernan and junior Alexa Santamaria combined for 30 more.
The state’s Division III sports programs don’t generate a fraction of the attention lavished on any random UK practice session, but Thomas More (which was 27-2 the year before Moss’s arrival, losing in a first-round NCAA match) has much to be proud of. Now let’s see if the Saints can do it all again.
Speaking of the Wildcats, after knocking off Hampton and battling past Cincinnati, the next opponent is coach Bob Huggins’ West Virginia club in another late-night Thursday game in Cleveland.
Expect another physical not-for-the-feint-of-heart contest like UK got from Cincinnati, a school that Huggins used to coach. Huggins helped establish the Bearcats’ intimidating image when he led the program from 1989-2005 and made a Final Four appearance. After a year at Kansas State, Huggins moved to West Virginia in 2007.
His bruising style followed him east. If anything, the game with Cincinnati should help Kentucky prepare for its next match on the road to 40 wins. In case you missed it, when Kentucky won its 36th game Saturday, it established the record for most wins to start a season in college basketball history.
Wichita State, a possible opponent in the regional finals Saturday, was 34-0 when the Wildcats took them out in the round of 16. Think the Shockers would like a chance for some payback?
Despite serving as host site for the first two rounds of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, coach Matthew Mitchell’s Wildcats were unable to advance to regional play, losing to seventh seed Dayton, 99-94.
The Cats were done in my some remarkable shooting by the Flyers, who handed Kentucky its first non-conference home loss in 57 matches by connecting on 56.6 percent of its field goal attempts and 61 percent (11 of 18) from long range. Dayton was 28 of 31 from the free throw line for good measure.
Mitchell also had to deal with the pregame suspension of senior center Azia Bishop, who violated curfew Saturday night at the team hotel. She issued a statement Monday through the UK athletics’s department:
“I had an amazing four years at the University of Kentucky. My season did not end the way I wanted it to, as I was suspended for Sunday’s game due to a curfew violation. I had a lapse in focus and it’s a decision I will regret for the rest of my life.
“However, it’s a lesson learned and I respect Coach Mitchell’s decision. This will only better me as a person in the future and shape me to become a woman of substance and who Coach Mitchell has taught me to be. I would like to thank the Big Blue Nation for all of their support and love that they have shown me over the last four years. I love everyone associated with the Big Blue Nation and the University of Kentucky, and I want to thank you all.”
Although Kentucky had big wins over South Carolina, Louisville and Baylor, the Cats were just 24-10 overall and failed to advance past the second round of the NCAA tourney for the first time since 2011.
Campbellsville’s women’s basketball team is in the NAIA Division I Final Four, facing No. 1 Freed-Hardeman Monday in Independence, Mo. The other semifinal featured 2014 national champion Westmont College (Calif.) against defending national champion Oklahoma City.
None of the Mid-South Conference’s men’s teams advanced to the Final Four. Seventh-seeded Pikeville came the closest, charging to the quarterfinals before losing to Talladega, 64-62. Kenny Manigault had a runner in the lane as time expired to force a tie, but it rolled off.
Manigault scored 20 points and seven rebounds. K.K. Simmons joined him in double figures with 19 points. Coach Kelly Wells’ team finished the season with a 28-6 record.
Glenn Osborne is the sports editor for KyForward.com, where this article first appeared.