The Thomas More women’s basketball team continues their reign as the best team in NAIA women’s basketball, receiving all 21 first-place votes in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll Wednesday morning. They are undefeated this season at 17-0 and 11-0 in the Mid-South Conference.
Since the last polls came out on Dec. 14, they have won four road games and five games overall. They beat Freed-Hardeman University 67-60, Bethel University (Tenn.) 90-52, West Virginia Tech 122-61, No. 3 Campbellsville University 78-66, and Lindsey Wilson College 70-56.
Their 122 points scored at West Virginia Tech were the most scored in a game for the Saints since a 127-34 drubbing of Thiel College on Feb. 25, 2014, in the Quarterfinals of the President’s Athletic Conference Tournament. Their win against Campbellsville was huge because it gave them sole possession of the MSC lead and was their fifth victory over a ranked opponent this season.
The Saints continue to be a well-oiled machine with four players averaging over 10 points per game, and five players having scored over 100 points this season.
Zoie Barth (Fort Thomas, Ky./Highlands) leads the team in points (230), assists (56), and is tied with Rachel Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day) for the team lead in steals with 26. Senior Emily Simon (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) leads the team with 110 rebounds, and first year Rylee Turner (Newport, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) leads with 25 blocks.
Offensively, they are tied for eighth in the NAIA in field-goal percentage at 46.1% on the season and are sixth in three-point percentage at 37.5%. Defensively, they are 14th in opponent’s points allowed per game at 55.1.
Thomas More returns to the floor Thursday evening in Lebanon, Tenn. against the Cumberland University Phoenix at 6:30 p.m. They beat Cumberland, 63-40 on Dec. 3.
Men drop to No. 10
The NAIA released their fourth Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top-25 Poll Wednesday morning and the Thomas More men’s basketball team was slotted at 10th in the country.
The Saints dropped an 88-59 contest to then No. 19 Freed-Hardeman University on the road to begin the latest poll period but have been on a roll since then. The Saints have won five in a row, including three wins in the Mid-South Conference to sit at 14-2 overall and 9-2 in the conference.
The winning streak began with a thrilling 84-81 overtime victory at Bethel University (Tenn.) on Dec. 17. They then picked up a pair of wins in the St. Francis Fighting Saints New Year’s Classic over the University of Saint Francis (Ill.), 70-68, and Roosevelt University, 85-72. They rang in the new year at home last Thursday night with a win over Campbellsville University 70-62 before a road win at Lindsey Wilson College Saturday afternoon 78-72.
Thomas More has continued to be led by redshirt junior Reid Jolly (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County), who had 22 or more points in three of those five games.
Sophomore Casey George (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) was named MSC Player of the Week on Jan. 2 for his performance over a pair of games at Saint Francis. He had 12 against the Fighting Saints before a career-high 25 against the Lakers of Roosevelt.
Sophomore Kyle Ross (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) has also been a spark plug for the Saints since making his season debut at Freed-Hardeman. He has had 10 or more points in four of six games, including a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds) at Bethel.
Thomas More returns to action Thursday night at Cumberland University at 8:30 p.m. They defeated the Phoenix at home earlier this season, 70-63 on Dec. 3.
2022-23 NAIA Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll Four (January 11, 2023)
RANK LAST TIME SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] RECORD POINTS 1 1 Thomas More (Ky.) [21] 17-0 591 2 4 Central Methodist (Mo.) 14-0 564 3 5 Dordt (Iowa) 16-0 549 4 3 Campbellsville (Ky.) 15-1 537 5 2 Westmont (Calif.) 13-1 516 6 6 Marian (Ind.) 16-1 503 7 7 Indiana Wesleyan 14-3 473 8 8 Clarke (Iowa) 13-2 444 9 9 Loyola (La.) 13-0 441 10 10 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 14-1 436 11 12 Rio Grande (Ohio) 15-2 381 12 18 Montana Western 15-2 375 13 14 Vanguard (Calif.) 11-3 342 14 13 Indiana Tech 14-3 340 15 15 Northwestern (Iowa) 12-3 323 16 20 Eastern Oregon 13-2 264 17 NR Texas Wesleyan 14-1 258 18 11 Carroll (Mont.) 12-5 253 19 17 Science & Arts (Okla.) 14-1 241 20 NR Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 12-4 239 21 22 Briar Cliff (Iowa) 12-4 186 22 16 Sterling (Kan.) 12-4 181 23 23 Southern Oregon 12-3 145 24 NR Cumberlands (Ky.) 14-3 143 25 NR Rust (Miss.) 8-3 116
Dropped from the Poll: Mid-America Christian (Okla.), St. Francis (Ill.), Georgetown (Ky.), Dakota Wesleyan
Receiving Votes: Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 106, IU South Bend (Ind.) 82, Pikeville (Ky.) 55, Texas A & M Texarkana 50, Reinhardt (Ga.) 43, Dakota State (S.D.) 40, Jamestown (N.D.) 32, St. Francis (Ill.) 32, Hope International (Calif.) 29, Faulkner (Ala.) 21, Grace (Ind.) 16, Siena Heights (Mich.) 9, Philander Smith (Ark.) 6, Oakland City (Ind.) 6, Georgetown (Ky.) 4, Midway (Ky.) 3
2022-23 NAIA Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 Poll Four (January 11, 2023)
| RANK | LAST WEEK | SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] | RECORD | FINAL POINTS |
| 1 | 3 | College of Idaho [17] | 14-1 | 558 |
| 2 | 5 | Oklahoma Wesleyan [2] | 15-1 | 539 |
| 3 | 7 | Langston (Okla.) [1] | 15-0 | 520 |
| 4 | 6 | Southwestern (Kan.) | 15-1 | 496 |
| 5 | 1 | Arizona Christian | 14-3 | 459 |
| 6 | 4 | Grace (Ind.) | 15-2 | 457 |
| 7 | 11 | Indiana Wesleyan | 13-4 | 445 |
| 8 | 19 | Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) | 14-3 | 402 |
| 9 | 12 | Union (Ky.) | 13-1 | 401 |
| 10 | 2 | Thomas More (Ky.) | 14-2 | 394 |
| 11 | 16 | Indiana Tech | 15-2 | 385 |
| 12 | 13 | Montana Tech | 15-2 | 375 |
| 13 | 17 | William Penn (Iowa) | 13-2 | 358 |
| 14 | 9 | Jamestown (N.D.) | 13-3 | 343 |
| 15 | 15 | Georgetown (Ky.) | 15-2 | 337 |
| 16 | 14 | Marian (Ind.) | 14-3 | 258 |
| 17 | 21 | Kansas Wesleyan | 15-1 | 247 |
| 18 | 20 | Evangel (Mo.) | 13-2 | 234 |
| 19 | 8 | Faulkner (Ala.) | 13-3 | 226 |
| 20 | 23 | Morningside (Iowa) | 12-3 | 224 |
| 21 | 10 | Florida College | 13-3 | 205 |
| 22 | RV | Loyola (La.) | 13-2 | 194 |
| 23 | 18 | LSU Shreveport (La.) | 12-3 | 189 |
| 24 | NR | Menlo (Calif.) | 14-3 | 96 |
| 25 | RV | Iowa Wesleyan | 16-1 | 65 |
Dropped from the Top 25: Wayland Baptist (Texas), Carroll (Mont.), Huntington (Ind.)
Others Receiving Votes: Saint Xavier (Ill.) 56, Texas A&M Texarkana 52, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 36, Antelope Valley (Calif.) 34, Dordt (Iowa) 34, Cornerstone (Mich.) 28, Science & Arts (Okla.) 28, Ottawa (Ariz.) 24, Thomas (Ga.) 23, Huntington (Ind.) 21, Tougaloo (Miss.) 20, Shawnee State (Ohio) 17, Corban (Ore.) 14, Rio Grande (Ohio) 12, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 10, Life (Ga.) 9, Madonna (Mich.) 4, Northwestern (Iowa) 4, Eastern Oregon 4, IU Kokomo (Ind.) 3.
