By Thomas More Athletics
The Thomas More University women’s basketball team is the No. 1 ranked team in NAIA women’s basketball for the sixth straight poll and eighth time in the last 10 polls.
After surviving a 65-60 scare at Cumberland University (Tenn.), the Saints have rolled to a 76-42 win at University of Tennessee Southern, 79-51 win at home vs. Georgetown College, and an 83-64 win at No. 24 University of the Cumberlands.
Saturday at Cumberlands was their sixth win of the season over a ranked opponent. They are now 21-0 overall and 15-0 in the Mid-South Conference. Dating back to last season, Thomas More has won 27 games in a row.
Senior Zoie Barth has led the Saints in scoring or tied for the team-lead in scoring in three of their last four games. Barth and fellow senior Courtney Hurst both scored 11 against Tennessee Southern. Barth led the team with 19 against Georgetown, and tied with junior Kelly Brenner against Cumberlands with 17.
Hurst led the team against Cumberland (Tenn.) with 22 points. Senior Emily Simon also recorded her fourth double-double of the season against the Patriots on Saturday with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Offensively, the Saints are fifth in the country with a 37.3% mark from beyond the arc and are ninth in field-goal percentage at 45.6%. Defensively, Thomas More makes it tough on their opponents to find open teammates, only allowing 8.6 assists per game, which ranks fourth in the NAIA. They also don’t allow many steals, tying for third in the country at 5.6 per game.
They take on Lindsey Wilson College Thursday night at home at 5:30 p.m. They beat the Blue Raiders on the road on January 7th, 70-56.
Men drop to No. 22
The Thomas More University men’s basketball team dropped to No. 22 in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll released this morning. The Saints are 1-3 since the last poll came out, with their win coming over University of the Cumberlands, 71-57, on Saturday afternoon in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
They dropped a pair of close contests in Tennessee to Cumberland University, 78-75, and University of Tennessee Southern, 80-74. They then fell to the newly ranked No. 10 Georgetown College Tigers 72-61 last Thursday before getting back on track at Cumberlands.
In their win against the Patriots, sophomore Casey George recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Redshirt junior Reid Jolly scored 21 and redshirt sophomore Jacob Jones also tied a season-high with 21.
Thomas More takes on the Lindsey Wilson College Blue Raiders Thursday night in the Connor Convocation Center at 7:30 p.m. They beat the Blue Raiders 78-72 in Columbia on January 7th.
Women’s Poll
RANK LAST TIME SCHOOL [FIRST-PLACE VOTES] RECORD POINTS 1 1 Thomas More (Ky.) [21] 21-0 591 2 2 Central Methodist (Mo.) 19-0 571 3 4 Campbellsville (Ky.) 19-1 550 4 3 Dordt (Iowa) 19-1 527 5 5 Westmont (Calif.) 17-1 525 6 6 Marian (Ind.) 19-2 486 7 7 Indiana Wesleyan 18-3 470 8 8 Clarke (Iowa) 18-2 460 9 10 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) 18-1 448 10 9 Loyola (La.) 17-1 416 11 18 Carroll (Mont.) 16-5 364 12 14 Indiana Tech 17-3 356 13 11 Rio Grande (Ohio) 18-3 348 14 13 Vanguard (Calif.) 14-4 345 15 12 Montana Western 18-3 334 16 16 Eastern Oregon 17-2 330 17 17 Texas Wesleyan 18-2 284 18 21 Briar Cliff (Iowa) 15-5 275 19 19 Science & Arts (Okla.) 18-2 239 20 15 Northwestern (Iowa) 14-5 202 21 NR Pikeville (Ky.) 16-4 201 22 20 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 15-5 175 23 25 Rust (Miss.) 13-3 169 24 22 Sterling (Kan.) 15-4 154 25 23 Southern Oregon 14-5 110
Dropped from the Top 25: Cumberlands (Ky.)
Receiving Votes: Cumberlands (Ky.) 102, IU South Bend (Ind.) 97, Texas A&M Texarkana 54, Dakota State (S.D.) 53, Mid-America Christian (Okla.) 33, Grand View (Iowa) 32, Faulkner (Ala.) 22, Jamestown (N.D.) 22, Oakland City (Ind.) 15, Menlo (Calif.) 15, Grace (Ind.) 13, Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 7, LSU Shreveport (La.) 4, Bryan (Tenn.) 3
Men’s Poll
RANK LAST WEEK SCHOOL [1st Place Votes] RECORD FINAL POINTS 1 1 College of Idaho [18] 18-1 559 2 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan [2] 19-1 543 3 3 Langston (Okla.) 18-1 513 4 5 Arizona Christian 17-4 483 5 9 Union (Ky.) 19-1 472 6 7 Indiana Wesleyan 16-5 456 7 6 Grace (Ind.) 18-3 447 8 11 Indiana Tech 17-3 441 9 13 William Penn (Iowa) 18-2 434 10 15 Georgetown (Ky.) 18-3 401 11 14 Jamestown (N.D.) 17-3 391 12 12 Montana Tech 18-3 341 13 17 Kansas Wesleyan 18-2 327 14 8 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) 16-5 295 15 22 Loyola (La.) 16-3 288 16 19 Faulkner (Ala.) 17-3 278 16 16 Marian (Ind.) 17-4 278 18 20 Morningside (Iowa) 16-3 272 19 18 Evangel (Mo.) 17-3 260 20 21 Florida College 16-3 228 21 4 Southwestern (Kan.) 16-4 211 22 10 Thomas More (Ky.) 15-5 180 23 25 Iowa Wesleyan 19-1 153 24 RV Texas A&M Texarkana 16-4 107 25 RV Antelope Valley (Calif.) 18-1 84
Dropped from the Top 25: LSU Shreveport (La.), Menlo (Calif.)
Others Receiving Votes: Ottawa (Ariz.) 74, LSU Shreveport (La.)43, Saint Xavier (Ill.) 43, Madonna (Mich.) 28, Shawnee State (Ohio) 27, Dordt (Iowa) 26, The Master’s (Calif.) 26, Thomas (Ga.) 25, Huntington (Ind.) 22, Tougaloo (Miss.) 20, Rio Grande (Ohio) 13, Eastern Oregon 12, St. Thomas (Fla.) 11, Mayville State (N.D.) 10, Wayland Baptist (Texas) 10, UNT Dallas (Texas) 8, Hope International (Calif.) 7, Northwestern (Iowa) 4, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 4, Lourdes (Ohio) 3.