(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Senior center Nicole Dickman (Park Hills, Ky./Notre Dame Academy) scored a team-high 18 points to lead the No. 1-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball team to a 76-63 win over No. 14-ranked University of Mount Union tonight (Saturday, March 5, 2011) in a NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship second round game at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

With the win, the Saints improve to 30-0 and advance to the "Sweet 16," where it will play defending national champion Washington University - St. Louis next Friday (March 11) at a site and time to be announced tomorrow on the NCAA championship website (www.ncaa.com).  With the loss, the Purple Raiders end the season at 26-4.

Mount Union jumped out to a 3-0 lead with 18:33 to play in the first half when Kori Wiedt made a jumper.  Thomas More answered with a 5-0 run to take a 5-3 lead when senior forward Amy Stultz (Amelia, Ohio/McNicholas) converted a three-point play at the 16:57 mark of the half.  The Purple Raiders responded with an 8-4 run capped by a three-pointer by Wiedt to take an 11-9 lead with 14:03 to play in the first half.  The Saints put together a 17-9 run to take a 26-20 lead when freshman guard Katie Kitchen (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) made a lay-up with 6:58 to play in the half.  Mount Union closed out the half on a 14-9 run  to cut the lead to 35-34 at halftime when Rosa LaMattina made a jumper with 12-seconds to play in the half.

Mount Union opened the second half on a 10-5 run to take a 44-40 lead with 15:08 to play in the game when Brittany Kilgore made a lay-up.  Thomas More answered with a 17-6 run to take a 57-50 lead when Kitchen converted a three-point play with 8:53 to play in the game.  Mount Union used a 9-4 run to cut the Saints' lead to 61-59 with 5:55 to play in the game when Erin Schmidt made a lay-up. The Saints closed out the game on a 15-4 run capped by a lay-up by sophomore guard Chelsea Tolliver (Morning View, Ky./Simon Kenton) with two-seconds to play in the game for the final score of 76-63.

Joining Dickman in double-figure scoring were Tolliver with 17, Kitchen with 15 and sophomore guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) with 11.  The Saints were led on the boards by Dickman and sophomore center Katie Kees (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) with seven rebounds each.  Kees led the team in assists with three and Long led the team in steals with two.