The top-ranked and top-seeded Thomas More College women’s basketball won its 10th-straight Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship as it defeated second-seeded Washington & Jefferson College 93-74 Saturday in the championship game of the PAC Championship Tournament at the Connor Convocation Center.
With the win, the Saints improve to 27-0 and earn the PAC automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The NCAA Division III Championship bracket will be announced on Monday on the NCAA Championship website (www.ncaa.com) at 2:30 p.m. The Saints completed their third consecutive perfect regular season.
The Presidents fall to 22-5 and must wait until Monday to see if they receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Saints jumped out to an early 6-2 lead when senior guard/forward Sydney Moss (St. Albans, W.Va./Boone County (Ky.) made a three-pointer with 8:50 to play in the first quarter. W&J answered with an 11-2 run capped by a Rachel Bellhy jumper to build a 13-8 lead with 5:03 to play in the opening quarter.
Thomas More closed out the quarter on a 9-4 run to tie the game at 17-17 when Moss made one-of-two free-throws with four-seconds to play in the first quarter.
The Presidents opened the second quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 23-17 lead with 8:24 to play in the quarter when Alyssa Riley made a jumper. Undaunted, Thomas More closed out the second quarter on a 30-6 run to build a 47-29 halftime lead when senior guard Olivia Huber (Woodlawn, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) made a three-pointer with two-seconds to play in the quarter.
W&J opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run capped by a Rachel Bellhy jumper to cut the lead to 47-35 with 7:25 to play in the third quarter. The Saints closed out the quarter on a 25-11 run to extend the lead to 72-46 after three quarters when Moss made a jumper with 21-seconds to play in the quarter.
The Presidents out-scored the Saints 28-21 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as Thomas More won the game 93-74.
Thomas More had a 40-18 advantage in points in the paint, 26-8 in points off turnovers and 21-4 in second chance points.
Moss recorded a double-double with a game-high 37 points and 13 rebounds and freshman guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) joined them in double-figures with 18 points and led the team in assists with five.
Moss named PAC Most Valuable Player for third time
Thomas More College senior guard/forward Sydney Moss (St. Albans, W.Va./Boone County (Ky.) and freshman guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) earned Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) yearly awards and four Saints earned All-PAC honors from the conference’s 10 head coaches.
Moss was named the PAC Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the third straight season. She leads the PAC in scoring with 21.3 points per game, while is averages 6.6 rebounds per game, dishes out 121 assists and has recorded 36 steals. Moss was also named first team All-PAC.
Temple was named the PAC Freshman of the Year. She leads the PAC in field goal percentage (57 percent), three-point field goal percentage (46.8 percent), fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.1) and 13th in scoring average (12.0 points per game). Temple also earned second team All-PAC honors.
Joining Moss on the All-PAC first team was sophomore guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) and sophomore forward Nikki Kiernan (Cold Springs, Ky./Newport Central Catholic). Owings is second on the team in scoring (14.8 points per game), first in assists (133) and second in steals (47).
Kiernan leads the team in blocks (73), rebounding (7.4 rebounds per game) and is third in scoring (13.5 points per game.
Thomas More men fall
The fourth-seeded Thomas More College men’s basketball team’s second half rally falls short as it fell, 65-62, to top-seeded Saint Vincent College tonight (Saturday, February 27, 2016) in the championship game of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament at the Carey Center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
With the loss, the Saints end the season at 17-11. Thomas More was playing in its sixth PAC Championship game in the last eight years. With the win, the Bearcats improve to 21-6 and earn the PAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
Saint Vincent jumped out to a 21-12 lead when Pat Jones made a lay-up with 11:18 to play in the first half. The Saints answered with a 10-0 run capped by a lay-up by freshman forward Junior Stockwell (Florence, Ky./Boone County) with 6:13 to play in the first half to give Thomas More a 22-21 lead. The Bearcats used a 9-0 run to build a 30-22 lead with 2:33 to play in the opening half when Jones made a lay-up. Thomas More closed out the half on a 4-1 run to cut the lead to 31-26 at halftime.
The Bearcats opened the second half on a 4-2 run to extend the lead to 35-28 with 18:01 to play in the second half. Thomas More responded with a 16-7 run to take a 44-42 lead with 10:54 to play in the game when freshman guard Damion King (Winchester, Ky./George Rogers Clark) made a lay-up. Saint Vincent answered with a 21-9 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 63-53 with 4:55 to play in the game when Bobby Swartwout made a jumper. Thomas More used a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 65-62 with 1:53 to play in the game when freshman guard Ryne Callahan (Morehead, Ky./Rowan County) made a lay-up. The Saints couldn’t find another basket the rest of the game and fell by the final score of 65-62.
Callahan led three Saints in double-figure scoring with 18 points, while Stockwell and junior forward/center Simon Clifford (Louisville, Ky./DuPont Manual) each finished with 12 points. King and junior guard Sawyer Pauly (Crescent Springs, Ky./Covington Catholic) led the team on the boards with eight rebounds each and Pauly led the team in assists with six.
From TMC Athletics