The defending national champion Thomas More College women’s basketball team has been voted the preseason No. 1 in all three NCAA Division III national polls and senior guard/forward Sydney Moss (St. Albans, W.Va./Boone County (Ky.) and sophomore guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) also earned preseason accolades.
The Saints, who posted a 33-0 record as they won the school’s first team national championship, was ranked No. 1 by D3hoops.com, USA Today Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and DIII News. Thomas More received all 25 first-place votes in the D3hoops.com poll and seven of the eight first-place votes.
Thomas More entered the national tournament last season ranked No. 1 and beat previous unbeaten George Fox (Ore.) University, 83-63, in the championship game in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Saints, who beat the No. 8, No. 2, No. 5 and No. 3-ranked teams during the NCAA Tournament, were the only four-year college basketball team (men’s or women’s) to post an undefeated record (33-0) during the 2014-15 season.
Thomas More led the nation in five statistical categories as it was first in won-lost percentage (100.0), final points (2,821), scoring margin (32.8), assist turnover ratio (1.40) and turnover margin (12.12). The Saints also ranked in the Top-10 in four other categories as they were third in scoring offense (85.5) and steals per game (14.6), fourth in assists per game (18.5) and sixth in field goal percentage (45.4).
Moss, was recognized by DIII News as the preseason National Player of the Year and was named a preseason first team All-American by D3hoops.com. Moss was named the NCAA Division III National Player of the Year for the second year in a row last season by DIII News, D3hoops.com and the WBA.
She led the nation in points per game with 24.2 points per game and ranked third in triple doubles with one, which was in the NCAA Division III Championship Game. Moss ranked in the Top-100 in five other statistical categories as she was 16th in assists turnover ratio (2.29), 45th in field goal percentage (51.8), 46th in three-point field goal percentage (38.4), 66thin double doubles (12) and 98th in assists per game (4.0).
She also led the team in rebounds with 7.6 rebounds per game and blocked 18 shots and recorded 60 steals. During the NCAA postseason, Moss broke the NCAA all-division women’s or men’s tournament scoring record as she scored 197 points in the Saints’ six NCAA tournament games.
Owings was named preseason All-American honorable mention by D3hoops.com.com. She was named the Great Lakes Region Rookie of the Year last season by D3hoops.com, while also be named third team All-Region and first team All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC).
Owings was second on the team in second on the team in scoring with 11.1 points per game, while led the team in steals with 69 and was third in assists with 82. She scored a season-high 20 points in the regular-season finale against Saint Vincent College. During the Saints’ NCAA tournament run, she averaged 13.3 points per game and had seven steals and 15 assists. Owings scored 17 points in the national championship game against George Fox.
The Saints open their national title defense on Nov. 18 when they travel to Granville, Ohio to play Denison University at 7 p.m. Thomas More will play its first home game since winning the national title when it hosts No. 9/15/19 Ohio Northern University at 4 p.m. on the first day of the Julie Costello Memorial Classic – presented by Barleycorn’s at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills.
From TMC Athletics