(WILMINGTON, Ohio) – The fourth-ranked Thomas More College women's basketball teams survived a second half rally by Wilmington College today (Wednesday, December 21, 2016) to defeat the Quakers, 61-59, in the championship game of the Fred Raizk Memorial Classic in Wilmington, Ohio.

With the win, the Saints remain undefeated at 9-0 and with the loss, the Quakers move to 7-3.

Thomas More took a 16-4 lead after the first quarter when senior forward Kirsten Paul (Cincinnati, Ohio/Cincinnati Christian) made a lay-up with eight seconds to play in the quarter.  The Saints opened the second quarter on a 9-7 run to extend the lead to 25-11 with 6:09 to play in the quarter when first-year forward Emily Schultz (Melbourne, Ky./Bishop Brossart) made a lay-up.  Wilmington answered with a 4-0 run capped by an Ashley Andracki three-pointer to cut the lead to 25-16 with 5:21 to play in the second quarter.  Thomas More responded with a 12-0 run to increase the lead to 37-16 when junior forward Nikki Kiernan (Cold Springs, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) made a lay-up with 29-seconds to play in the second stanza.  The Quakers' Ja'Cole Tabor made a three-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Saints' lead to 37-19 at halftime.

The Saints opened the third quarter on a 5-3 run capped by a free-throw by sophomore guard Michaela Ware (Newport, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) to extend the lead to 42-22 with 7:51 to play in the quarter.  Wilmington closed out the third quarter on a 15-4 run to cut the lead to 46-37 after three quarters when Mackenzie Campbell made a lay-up at the 1:41 mark of the quarter.  The Quakers used a 20-13 run to cut the Saints' lead to 59-57 with 12-seconds to play in the game when Brittaney Jefferson made one-of-two free-throws.  With seven-seconds to play in the game, sophomore guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) made two free-throws to increase the lead to 61-57.  Wilmington made a lay-up at the buzzer, but it wasn't enough as the Saints won the game 61-59.

Junior guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) led two Saints in double-figure scoring with a game-high 16 points and recorded a game-high five steals.  Kiernan joined her in double-figures with 11 points and a game-high four blocks.  Paul just missed a double-double as she scored nine points and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.  Temple finished the game with seven points and led the team in assists with three.

At the end of the tournament, Kiernan was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Owings.  In the two games at the Raizk Classic Kiernan averaged 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game to go with six blocks and four assists.  Owings averaged 16.5 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, while dishing out seven assists and recording six steals.

Thomas More is idle until December 29 when it hosts Illinois Wesleyan University at 7 p.m. at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.  The game against the Titans will be the Saints' final non-conference game during the 2016-17 season.