The No. 1-ranked Thomas More College women’s basketball team defeated Geneva College 87-62 Wednesday in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) game at Metheny Fieldhouse in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints improve to 21-0 overall and 15-0 in the PAC while the Golden Tornadoes fall to 9-13 overall and 6-9 in the PAC.
Geneva took an early 6-2 lead when Jodie Carlson made a three-pointer with 6:59 to play in the first quarter. The Saints answered with a 16-2 run capped by a three-pointer by freshman guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) to take an 18-8 lead with 2:19 to play in the opening quarter. Geneva closed out the first quarter on a 5-3 run to cut the lead to 21-13 after one quarter when Nicole Hayland made a jumper with 11-seconds to play in the quarter.
Thomas More opened the second quarter on a 5-2 run to increase the lead to 26-15 with 7:29 to play in the quarter when junior forward Kaylee Bush (Middletown, Ohio/Madison) made a jumper. The Golden Tornadoes used a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 28-22 when Callie Ford made a jumper with 5:06 to play in the second quarter. The Saints closed out the second quarter on a 13-7 run to build a 41-29 halftime lead when senior guard/forward Sydney Moss (St. Albans, W.Va./Boone County (Ky.)) made a three-pointer with 29-seconds to play in the quarter.
Geneva opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run capped by a Miranda Heaney three-pointer with 9:08 to play in the quarter to cut the lead to 41-35. The Saints closed out the quarter on a 24-6 run to take a 65-41 lead after three quarters when senior guard Kiley Bartels (Southgate, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) made a jumper with 21-seconds to play in the quarter.
Geneva used a 16-13 run to cut the lead to 79-57 with 3:11 to play in the fourth quarter when Noelle Henry made a jumper. Thomas More would close out the game on an 8-5 run for the final score of 87-62.
All 13 Saints scored at least two points as Moss led all scorers with 27 points. Joining Moss in double-figure scoring was sophomore forward Nikki Kiernan (Cold Springs, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) with 22 points and sophomore guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) with 12 points. Kiernan led the team on the boards with nine rebounds and blocks with three. Moss led the team in assists with five and Owings led the team in steals with three.
Thomas More returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Washington, Pennsylvania to play Washington & Jefferson College. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. inside the Henry Memorial Center.
Hot-shooting Thomas More win breeze
The Thomas More College men’s basketball team shot 58.2 percent from the field Wednesday as it stormed past Geneva College, 88-47, in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) game at Metheny Fieldhouse in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
With the win, the Saints improve to 13-9 overall and 10-5 in the PAC. The Golden Tornadoes fall to 3-19 overall and 3-12 in the PAC.
Thomas More shot 65.4 percent (17-of-26) from the field, including 57.1 percent (four-of-seven) from behind the three-point arc in the first half as it built a 44-23 halftime lead. The Saints shot over 50 percent in the second half as they shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the floor, including 50 percent (six-of-12) from behind the arc as they cruised to the 88-47 victory.
The Saints’ defense forced 22 Geneva turnovers and converted them into 29 points. Thomas More had a 40-30 advantage in points in the paint and the Saints’ bench out-scored Geneva’s bench 33-7.
Freshman guard Brandon Horne (Louisville, Ky./Male) led the Saints in scoring with 22 points. He was joined in double-figure scoring by junior forward/center Simon Clifford (Louisville, DuPont Manual) with 12 points and freshman center Junior Stockwell (Florence, Ky./Boone County) with 10 points. Freshman guard Ryne Callahan (Morehead, Ky./Rowan County) just missed double-figures with nine points.
Freshman guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark) led the team on the boards with five rebounds and led the team in steals with five. Horne led the team in assists with three.
Thomas More returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Washington, Pennsylvania to play Washington & Jefferson College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. inside the Henry Memorial Center.
From TMC Athletics