(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) – The fifth-ranked Thomas More College fell to 21st- ranked University of Rochester, 61-58, tonight (Saturday, November 18, 2017) in the championship game of the Chuck Resler Tip-Off Tournament at the Louis Alexander Palestra in Rochester, New York.
With the loss, the Saints fall to 1-1 and with the win, the Yellowjackets improve to 2-0. The loss was the Saints' first regular season setback since an overtime loss to Calvin College on November 23, 2012. Thomas More had won 97-straight regular season games entering tonight's contest.
Rochester raced out to an early 9-2 lead when Lauren Deming made a jumper with 5:02 to play in the first quarter. The Saints closed out the quarter on an 8-1 run to tie the game at 10-10 after one quarter when sophomore guard Taylor Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) made a jumper with 59-seconds to play in the quarter.
The Yellowjackets opened the second quarter on a 4-2 run to take a 14-12 lead with 7:40 to play in the quarter when Alexandria Leslie made a lay-up. Thomas More answered with a 17-6 run capped by a three-pointer by senior guard Abby Owings (Independence, Ky./Simon Kenton) with 44-seconds to play in the second quarter to give the Saints a 29-20 lead. Rochester's Shea McCartney made a lay-up with one-second to play in the second quarter to cut Thomas More's lead to 29-22 at halftime.
Thomas More opened the third quarter on a 20-10 run to extend the lead to 49-32 with 1:32 to play in the quarter when Owings made a lay-up. Rochester used a 5-2 run to close the quarter to cut the lead to 51-37 after three quarters when Deming made a jumper with 50-seconds to play in the quarter.
Rochester opened the fourth quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 51-41 on a Leslie jumper with 9:06 to play in the game. Sophomore forward Emily Schultz (Melbourne, Ky./Bishop Brossart) made a lay-up with 7:08 to play in the game to cap a 5-2 run that extended the Saints' lead to 56-43. The Yellowjackets then closed the game on an 18-2 run to take the lead with 20-seconds to play in the game and won the game 61-58.
Thomas More was led in scoring by Owings with 19 points, while junior guard Madison Temple (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) added 14 points and Schultz finished with nine points. Temple led the team on the boards with eight rebounds and in assists with five. Schultz added seven rebounds for the Saints.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Owings and Temple were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Saints return to action on Tuesday (November 21) when they travel to Grove City, Pennsylvania to play Grove City College in both teams' Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener. The game will tip-off at 4 p.m. at the Grove City College Arena.