The Thomas More University Saints women’s basketball team took most of last Wednesday to travel back in Crestview Hills on the bus from Sioux City, Iowa.
Thomas More completed the run to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics crown with a 77-65 win over Dordt University from Sioux Center, Iowa on Tuesday, an opponent playing a mere fifty miles from their home floor in Sioux Center.
Saints fans and family members welcomed them back near their home court of the Connor Convocation Center.
“It’s surreal. It still doesn’t feel real, I think,” said Zoie Barth, Thomas More junior guard and 2019 Highlands graduate. “The trip has been so long. But just realizing we set a goal and we achieved it this year, it’s crazy. It feels like the best feeling really.”
The trip gave the coaches and players time to reflect on the process it took to win the championship. Thomas More won NCAA Division III titles in 2019 and 2016 and finished national runner-up in the NAIA National Tournament last year. (Thomas More returned to the NAIA in the 2019-2020 season and will begin its transition to NCAA Division II in July, though the Saints will compete in 2022-23 in the NAIA.)
But the changes have not affected Thomas More’s culture of excellence. Head coach Jeff Hans, who was named NAIA National Coach of the Year after the Saints’ big win last week, just completed his 11th season leading the program.
“That’s something we’ve tried to build over the time in my 11 years of being here not just winning, but to come in here and do things the right way,” Hans said. “Be a family while we’re trying to play sports we love and play hard, value each other, trust each other and build relationships that will last more than just this season. It’s going to be a lifetime with these women so they can come back and see the banner hanging up five to 10 years from now when they come in to watch current teams play. That was us.”
Thomas More finished 32-4 on the season including a 19-2 mark against Mid-South Conference opponents. The Saints lost 53-52 to Lindsey Wilson College (Columbia, Kentucky) in the quarterfinals of the Mid-South Conference Tournament in Bowling Green on Feb. 24.
But the Saints made the 64-team national tournament and rolled to victory winning five of the six games by double digits. The only close one came in a 60-58 win in the national quarterfinals against Rocky Mountain College located in Billings, Montana.
“We came together at the right time,” Hans said. “We had a good regular season. We had a little hiccup in the conference tournament. But it allowed us to re-evaluate, re-assess where we were at, probably refocus a little bit more and be ready for this run at the national tournament.”
Thomas More averaged 81.5 points per game in the six national tournament games and held the six opponents to an average of 58.5 points per game. Thomas More had an average margin of victory of just more than 23 points per game.
“I think we started to get the hang of the scouting report and I think we focused on that a lot so we knew personnel and that kind of carried our defense far,” Barth said. “We were able to shut down some of (the opponents’) key players and capitalize on their plays, skill work and stuff.”
For the season, Thomas More had just one individual average just more than 10 points per game in senior guard Taylor Clos at 10.5 per game. But eight averaged at least 7.3 per game. Thomas More had 19 players on the roster.
“Our depth is something that we’ve used to our advantage,” Barth said. “It’s really nice to know you can look down the bench and have seven, eight girls come off the bench even to come in and contribute just the same.”
Of the 19 players, 13 came from the greater Cincinnati area including eight from Boone, Kenton and Campbell Counties. Hans has a process to make sure players are a good fit for Thomas More.
“You have to invest a lot of time in getting to know them, their personalities and how they are so we make sure this is the right fit because this isn’t for everybody,” Hans said. “You want high-character ladies who want to do well in the classroom and make sure they represent Thomas More the right way. We also have to get really good basketball players, too. We want to compete at the highest level and do the things that we’ve done.”
Clos and junior 5-10 guard/forward Kenzie Schwarber graduated from Campbell County in 2018. They led the Camels to the only girls basketball state tournament win in program history in 2016. The two grew up playing against the likes of Barth and Conner graduate Courtney Hurst.
Clos transferred in from Northern Kentucky University after two seasons and Schwarber transferred from Morehead State. The two played basketball together since the third grade. Clos said she knew Hurst is a good shooter and Barth is a good leader, floor general and can score or pass the ball at will.
“When you think back into high school and just growing up playing against all these girls, you don’t think to yourself these could all be my teammates someday. You learn their game,” Clos said. “You had to learn who they are as people and players. I think after learning all of that and becoming teammates, it makes it a lot easier to know their strengths on the court, get them open and do what you need to do as an individual to make sure they’re getting the position they need to succeed. For Kenzie and I to go out like this is all I could ask for.”
Thomas More has had its share of transfers over the years. That includes the national tournament’s most valuable player in 6-foot-1-inch forward Alexah Christman, a graduate student. She played with 2019 Ryle graduate Lauren Schwartz at Rice University. Schwartz is currently at the University of Washington. The two helped Rice to a 21-8 mark in the 2019-2020 season.
“It’s really strange because there’s still that attachment that I have to my undergrad and where I am an alumnus,” Chrisman said. “I love my teammates. I love Lauren Schwartz, (6-8 center) Nancy Mulkey (also at Washington). I learned so much in Division I basketball, especially on post defense, post offense. But it’s so special coming home, being here. I didn’t get the full four-year experience where you come in as a freshman, live in the dorms, know all the student-athletes and everything. But I made a lot of friends while I was here. The community is so strong and supportive. The full year and a half that I’ve been here, I feel so welcomed and a part of the family. I’m so excited to have accomplished something so amazing for this community and with all these people.”
Chrisman scored 16 points in the title game Tuesday. But she agreed players are doing it for the wrong reasons if they are playing for awards.
“How many of my points are assists? Somebody has to get the ball to me,” Chrisman said. “I’m looking for people to get open. Basketball is a team sport. You’re not going to win by yourself. We had 10 girls (in the rotation). You had to stop all 10 of us to beat us. It’s amazing and that’s how we ended up going as far as we did.”
Chrisman had a way of earning the trust of her coaches and teammates. She is one of two Mercy McAuley graduates on the team. The other is 6-0 sophomore forward/guard Alex Smith.
“I didn’t think about it too much,” Chrisman said. “I just came in and tried to be myself, let them know that being vulnerable with them creates stress. I’m a quirky person so I was just being my weird self with them and they were their weird selves with me. We formed a bond and you have to have that trust and camaraderie and be able to be exactly who you are because they’re going to see you fail. They’re going to see you in your hardest times. But they’re also going to see you celebrate. You want your best friends by you when you do that.”
Clos has one year of eligibility remaining as a result of the Coronavirus 2019 pandemic. But she’s not going to use it.
“In my career, there’s been a lot of ups and downs. I’ve battled through a lot of injuries, mental illness, physical illness, just a lot of different things that a lot of people don’t realize on the surface playing basketball,” Clos said. “I had a dream as a kid to win a national championship and this year, my only goal was to not only get back to where we were last year, but to win. There’s no better way to go out and I think that this just proves that all my hard work and not giving up paid off for a reason. My dedication to the game all these years has meant something and I can carry that legacy with me the rest of my life. I’m a national champion.”
Clos agreed that transferring schools does not work out for everyone. Northern Kentucky University improved by nine wins from her freshman to her sophomore year. The Norse lost a tight 50-49 game against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals in 2020.
“Do what makes you happy. It’s a really good experience to play Division I basketball,” Clos said. “But if you’re not 100 percent happy or healthy, then that goes deeper than the sport itself and I think that when I came to the realization that there was more important things to life than basketball, I had some internal soul searching to do as well as healing from injuries. I think that if entering the transfer portal is something that will make you happy or a better person, then it’s 100 percent worth it and I would go for it.”
Clos is majoring in Communications. She said there are some challenges coming with being a student-athlete.
“It’s not always easy, especially this time of year when you’re missing a lot of school for games,” Barth said. “You can’t be in class as much as you need to be. I know for me, I can get a little behind in school when we’re on all these lengthy trips. As long as you keep your priorities straight, get the w’s on the court and then get the work done in the classroom, you’re going to be fine.”
The Barth family has won two championships in these last two years. Her brother Zach Barth helped the Highlands Bluebirds boys basketball team to the first state championship in school history in 2021.
During her six seasons on varsity at Highlands, Zoie Barth scored 2,416 career points, which is second in program history behind Head Coach Jaime Walz-Richey’s 4,948. But during those six years, Highlands could not find a way to advance past the region semifinals.
“I’m so proud of my brother,” Zoie Barth said. “He’s had a great last two years especially of his high school career. I hope he decides to play in college. But he’s still not sure. The championship is the cherry on top of everything. All the hard work, all the practices, long hours in the gym. It’s the best thing you can ask for at the end of the day.”
Thomas More returns a good core for next year. The Saints will move to NCAA Division II and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after next year.
