(LATROBE, Pa.) - The No. 8-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball team defeated second-place Saint Vincent College, 75-52, today (Saturday, February 16, 2013) at the Carey Center to finish Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) regular season undefeated.
With the win the Saints finish the regular season at 24-1 overall and 18-0 in the PAC. Thomas More will be the top-seed in next week's PAC Championship Tournament and will play eighth-seed Bethany College on Tuesday (February 19) at 5:30 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 19-6 overall and 15-3 in the PAC and will be the second-seed in the PAC tournament and will play seventh-seed Thiel College on Tuesday.
Thomas More jumped out to and early 15-10 lead when senior Preseason All-American and PAC Player of the Year candidate guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) made a three-pointer with 16:00 to play in the first half. Saint Vincent answered with a 6-0 run to take a 16-15 lead on a Devin McGrath jumper with 14:14 to play in the first half. The Saints responded with a 10-0 run to take a 25-16 lead with 5:32 to play in the first half when freshman forward Alexa Santamaria (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) made one-of-two free-throws. The Bearcats used a 10-0 run to retake the lead at 25-26 when Taylor Mathers made one-of-two free-throws with 2:23 to play in the half. Thomas More closed the half on an 8-4 run to take a 33-30 lead at halftime when Long made a jumper with 21-seconds to play in the opening half.
The Saints opened the second half on a 15-0 run to extend the lead to 48-30 with 14:58 to play in the game when Long made a lay-up. Saint Vincent answered with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 48-34 when Mathers made a jumper with 14:22 to play in the game. That would be as close as Saint Vincent would come as Thomas More led by as many as 26 points as it closed out the game on a 27-18 run for the 75-52 victory.
Three Saints finished with in double-figures scoring as Long had a game-high-tying 18 points, senior guard Katie Kitchen (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) had 17 points and sophomore guard Sydni Wainscott (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) finished with 12 points. Junior forward Moriah Corey (Louisville, Ky./Butler) led the team on the boards with eight rebounds, while junior guard Devin Bealsey (Burlington, Ky./Conner) finished with seven rebounds. Beasley led the team in assists with eight and sophomore forward Jenny Burgoyne (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) led the team in steals with five.