Top-ranked Thomas More College held off fourth-ranked Amherst College 74-65 in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship Saturday evening at Capital University’s Capital Center Performance Arena.
The Saints (32-0) will meet seventh-ranked Tufts University (28-3) for the Division III national title on Monday, April 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Division III national championship game is being played as a part of a larger 35th anniversary NCAA women’s basketball championship celebration.
It will be the first time in the history of NCAA women’s basketball that all three divisional championships will be decided in the same city and venue.
Tufts earned a 63-50 win over Wartburg College (23-8) in Saturday’s opener.
Last year, top-ranked Thomas More defeated third-ranked George Fox University 83-63 in the Division III title game, which was hosted by Calvin College at Van Noord Arena. The Saints are undefeated over the past two seasons are are on a streak of 65 wins in a row.
Senior guard/forward Sydney Moss (St. Albans, W.Va./Boone County (Ky.)) led Thomas More with a game-best 39-point, 11-rebound double-double. She rallied to score 27 second-half points after posting 10 on 5-of-9 shooting in the first half. The Saints clung to a 27-20 lead over the Purple & White at the break.
Sophomore forward Nikki Kiernan (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) totaled 13 points and seven rebounds while sophomore guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) and freshman guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio / Anderson) each finished with nine.
Hannah Hackley finished with a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double to lead Amherst (30-2). Meredith Doswell totaled 16 points and seven rebounds while Ali Doswell and Jaimie Renner chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Box Score
Amherst vs Thomas More
03/19/16 7:30 pm at The Capital Center (Columbus, Ohio)
At The Capital Center (Columbus, Ohio)
THOMAS MORE 74, AMHERST 65
AMHERST (30-2)
Hannah Hackley 8-20 2-2 19; Meredith Doswell 7-12 0-1 16; Ali Doswell 4-13
4-5 13; Jaimie Renner 2-6 6-10 10; Haley Zwecker 2-2 0-0 5; Cheyenne
Pritchard 0-3 2-2 2; Jackie Nagle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 14-20 65.
THOMAS MORE (32-0)
Sydney Moss 14-24 9-12 39; Nikki Kiernan 6-13 1-2 13; Abby Owings 3-15 3-4
9; Madison Temple 4-9 0-0 9; Alexa Santamaria 1-4 0-0 2; Samantha Cady 1-3
0-0 2; Olivia Huber 0-0 0-0 0; Kirsten Paul 0-1 0-0 0; Michaela Ware 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 29-69 13-18 74.
Amherst………………….. 12 8 24 21 – 65
Thomas More………………. 12 15 20 27 – 74
3-point goals–Amherst 5-22 (Meredith Doswell 2-5; Hannah Hackley 1-6; Ali
Doswell 1-7; Haley Zwecker 1-1; Cheyenne Pritchard 0-3), Thomas More 3-12
(Sydney Moss 2-6; Madison Temple 1-2; Abby Owings 0-4). Fouled
out–Amherst-None, Thomas More-Alexa Santamaria. Rebounds–Amherst 34
(Hannah Hackley 10), Thomas More 46 (Sydney Moss 11). Assists–Amherst 10
(Jaimie Renner 4), Thomas More 8 (Madison Temple 3). Total fouls–Amherst
18, Thomas More 21. Technical fouls–Amherst-None, Thomas More-None. A-1278
2016 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Semifinal – game 2
Game Duration: 1:55
From TMC Athletics