Veteran head coach Jeff Hans agreed he did not like what took place in the game’s first five minutes.
But once the Thomas More women’s basketball team (25-1, 19-1) did what has made the Saints successful in recent years, Thomas More pulled away from the visiting Freed-Hardeman Lions, 79-51 on Senior Day on Saturday. That started with nice defense and aggressive play on offense.
“Freed-Hardeman is really good. They made us earn everything we got,” Hans said. “I’m just really proud of our players. They finished plays when we needed to.”
The NAIA’s top-ranked squad stayed tied with third-ranked Campbellsville on top of the Mid-South Conference standings with two games left. Freed-Hardeman (17-9, 11-9) is tied for fifth with Georgetown in the MSC.
Thomas More recorded eight steals off 19 Freed-Hardeman turnovers while yielding four steals off eight turnovers. The Saints outscored the Lions, 26-10 in points off turnovers. Freshman guard/forward Rylee Turner led the Saints with three steals.
The Saints also won the rebounding battle, 31-28 including a 10-7 advantage on the offensive glass. Thomas More outscored Freed-Hardeman, 20-4 in second-chance points.
Thomas More recorded 17 assists to eight for Freed-Hardeman. Turner also led the Saints with five assists.
Nine different Saints scored in the win. It started with senior guard Emily Simon attacking the rim to score 19 points to go with seven rebounds, two steals and eight fouls drawn.
“That’s why you have to be comfortable and just shoot it,” Simon said. “You put in the work to knock them down. It’s about trusting myself and trusting my teammates to get me the ball when I’m open. When you have senior leadership like this and everyone with the work ethic around us, it’s scary. It’s going to be fun the next three to four weeks and in the future.”
Senior guard Zoie Barth added 18 points making 4-of-7 three-point tries. Barth also had three assists.
“I think especially at halftime, we came together and agreed that maybe they were giving us some looks we maybe don’t see all the time,” Barth said. “They were sagging off (Simon) and I and we had wide-open threes. Coach (Hans) spoke that confidence back into us. It was so much more fun coming out because we were so comfortable. Things started to roll after our confidence came.”
Conner graduate Courtney Hurst also did her part scoring six points. Junior guards Maggie Jones and Rachel Martin scored nine each.
“Trust is a big part of how well we’ve been doing,” Hurst said. “You have to trust your teammates will set the good screens. I feel trust happens more outside of the court. We have really good chemistry and we’re really good friends.”
The other player to celebrate senior day was junior Sammi Whiteman. She is in her second year after transferring from Trevecca Nazarene (Tennessee). Whiteman scored eight points.
“My time here has been incredible,” Whiteman said. “Transferring here has been one of the best decisions I’ve made. The growth I’ve had these last couple years has been amazing and has prepared me for life. The thing that’s special about the Thomas More program is it not only makes you a champion on the court. You approach things with more confidence and you handle yourself a lot better as well. I’m grateful for my family for supporting me through that process. I’m grateful to be a Saint.”
Freed-Hardeman also saw nine players score. Senior KJ White led the way with 14 points and sophomore forward Kelsey Bender scored 10.
Thomas More took the lead for good at 8-5 with 3:55 left in the first quarter when Martin hit a three. Simon made consecutive treys to extend the lead to 14-7 before Hurst hit another with 50 seconds left giving the Saints a 20-7 lead after the first quarter.
Thomas More led 34-19 at halftime before exploding for 32 in the third quarter to go up 66-36 entering the fourth quarter. The Saints subbed out the starters late in the fourth quarter.
“I told them not to hesitate. Just trust your abilities and trust what you’ve put in the hard work for,” Hans said. “We were hesitant to shoot it and hesitant to pass it. If you shoot it, we have a good opportunity. If you don’t shoot it, we’re working down the shot clock. I thought we did a better job with that in the second half. We also did a better job getting out in transition in the second half.”
Thomas More takes on Shawnee State Thursday in the final regular season game at the Connor Convocation Center at 5:30 p.m.
