(WILMINGTON, Ohio) - The eighth-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball defeated Wilmington College, 77-55, today (Saturday, November 16, 2013) in the championship game of the Damon's Grill/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament at Hermann Court in Wilmington, Ohio.

With the win, the Saints improve to 2-0 and with the loss, the Quakers fall to 1-1.

Thomas More jumped out to a 23-10 lead with 9:46 to play in the first half when sophomore forward Alexa Santamaria (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) made a lay-up. Wilmington answered with an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 27-21 when Bethany Ahrens made a lay-up with 3:35 to play in the first half. The Saints closed out the half on an 8-5 run to take a 35-26 lead at halftime when senior guard Devin Beasley (Burlington, Ky./Conner) made a three-pointer with two-seconds to play in the half.

Wilmington opened the second half on a 6-4 run to cut the lead to 39-32 with 17:00 to play in the second half when MaKenzie Wippel made two free-throws. That would be as close as the Quakers would come as Thomas More would close out the game on a 38-23 run for the final score of 77-55.

Sophomore guard/forward Sydney Moss (St. Albans, W.Va./Boone County (Ky.)) recorded her second double-double in as many games as she had a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Joining her in double-figure scoring was Beasley with 13 points and junior forward Jenny Burgoyne (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) with 10 points. Beasley led the team in assists with six and Burgoyne led the team in steals with three.

At the conclusion of the tournament Moss was named the Most Valuable Player and Beasley and Burgoyne joined her on the All-Tournament Team.

The Saints return to action next Saturday (November 23) when they travel to Columbus, Ohio to play Capital University.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. at The Capital Center.