NKyTribune staff
The championship tradition continued for the Thomas More women’s basketball program on Tuesday night as the Saints captured the Mid-South Conference Tournament title with a a 56-47 victory over Campbellsville in Bowling Green.
Maggie Jones scored 14 points off the bench and drained a pair crucial 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter as Thomas More (25-1) rallied to claim the Mid-South Conference championship. With Campbellsville holding a 42-41 lead and less than six minutes remaining, Jones buried a 3-pointer to give Thomas More a 44-42 advantage.
Campbellsville regained the lead, but Taylor Clos responded by knocking down two consecutive 3-pointers to give Thomas More a 50-45 advantage with 4:37 left on the clock. Jones then buried another trey to extend the Saints lead to 53-45, and Thomas More coasted to the title.
Clos finished with 10 points for Thomas More, which is ranked No. 1 nationally in the NAIA poll. The Saints held Campbellsville (18-2) to just 30.6 percent shooting from the field.
Zoie Barth added seven points, five steals and four assists for Thomas More, which captured the Mid-South Conference title in just its second year of competing in the league. The Saints won three NCAA Division III national championships (2015, 2016, 2019) before transitioning to the NAIA last season.
Barth was also named the Mid-South Conference Outstanding Player of the Tournament. The Highlands High School graduate earned the award by averaging 15.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in the tournament.
A year ago, Thomas More finished as runner-up in the Mid-South Conference Tournament. The Saints have won 13 tournament championships at both the NCAA and NAIA levels — all since 2007.
Savannah Gregory led Campbellsville with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. The Tigers scored the first 10 points of the game, but Thomas More countered with a 9-0 run and the remainder of the contest featured seven lead changes and three ties.
Thomas More had already secured an automatic bid into the NAIA Tournament by winning the Mid-South Conference regular-season title. As the tournament runner-up, Campbellsville earned an automatic bid into the national tournament due to the conference receiving two automatic bids.
Thomas More has been selected to host an opening-round three-team pod in the NAIA Tournament March 12-13 at the Connor Convocation Center. The winner of that pod advances to the national finals in Sioux City, Iowa.
The NAIA will announce the tournament field and pairings on Thursday.
(Information compiled from the Mid-South Conference and staff reports)