Thomas More defeats Tufts for 2nd straight Division III women’s title
Offensive powerhouse Thomas More turned to its defense to cap off an undefeated season with a second straight Division III national championship.
Former Simon Kenton standout Abby Owings scored 17 points and ex-Boone County star Sydney Moss — the tournament’s most outstanding player — added 14 to lead the Saints to a 63-51 win over Tufts on Monday night. It was the Saints’ 66th consecutive victory.
“We are going to take everybody’s best shots, we know that,” Coach Jeff Hans said. “Our players and our guys rose to the challenge every time.”
The game was tied at 49 with just 6 1/2 minutes left. But a steal and fast-break layup by Moss put the Saints (33-0) back on top, sparking a decisive 10-0 run.
Michela North scored 10 points and Maura Folliard added nine to lead Tufts (28-4), which was looking for its first national title.
Thomas More hit just three of its first 15 shots and the Jumbos, using their signature stifling defense, jumped out to a 17-11 lead after a quarter.
“We would have liked to have pushed that, but they kind of crawled their way back, kept scoring,” North said. “We couldn’t really get a stop for awhile and they’d just go on runs. They are an emotional team.”
The game was played at Tufts’ pace. Thomas More led just 32-26 at the half. The Jumbos have the second-best defense in Division III and give up an average of 44 points a game.
The Saints, who average 92 points a game, normally shoot almost 50 percent from the field. They were held to 36 percent in this one.
Moss, the three-time Division III national player of the year, hit just four of her 14 shots. But the Saints got 13 points from Nikki Keirnan and 10 from Madison Temple.
It was the Saints defense that made the difference late. They forced three turnovers and four missed shots during the final half of the fourth quarter.
“I think we all just had that look in our eyes, like, ‘OK it’s time to buckle down and get stops on defense and make plays on offense for each other, and obviously we did that,” Moss said.
The teams also met in last year’s national semifinals, with Thomas More winning, 62-52.
THOMAS MORE 63, TUFTS 51
Tufts (28-3) — Baptista 2-6 0-0 4, Dillon 2-6 2-2 6, Lee 2-8 2-4 6, North 5-16 0-1 10, Roberson 1-9 0-0 3, Bloom 0-0 0-0 0, Brooks 0-1 0-0 0, Doyle 0-0 0-0 0, Folliard 4-6 0-0 9, Hicks 2-3 0-0 5, Knapp 0-0 0-0 0, Martensen 0-1 0-0 0, Wu 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 22-63 4-7 51.
Thomas More (32-0) — Kiernan 5-17 3-5 13, Moss 4-14 5-7 14, Owings 5-14 5-6 17, Santamaria 2-3 0-0 4, Temple 3-7 3-4 10, Bartels 0-1 0-0 0, Bush 0-0 0-0 0, Cady 2-2 0-0 4, Devine 0-0 0-0 0, Hignite 0-0 0-0 0, Huber 0-1 1-2 1, McDonald 0-0 0-0 0, Paul 0-0 0-0 0, Rupp 0-0 0-0 0, Ware 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 17-24 63.
Tufts | 17 | 9 | 16 | 9 | — | 51 |
Thomas More | 11 | 21 | 15 | 16 | — | 63 |
Three-point goals—Tufts 3-12 (Folliard 1-2, Hicks 1-2, Roberson 1-3, Dillon 0-1, Lee 0-1, Wu 0-1, Baptista 0-2), Thomas More 4-13 (Owings 2-4, Temple 1-3, Moss 1-6). Rebounds—Tufts 37 (North 15), Thomas More 48 (Three tied with 9). Assists—Tufts 13 (Dillon 4, Roberson 4), Thomas More 13 (Moss 4, Temple 4). Fouled out—Baptista, Dillon, Lee. Total fouls—Tufts 21, Thomas More 17. A—n/a.
This story was originally published April 4, 2016 at 8:00 PM with the headline "Thomas More defeats Tufts for 2nd straight Division III women’s title."