Thomas More Hands W&J 83-64 Home Loss
WASHINGTON, Pa. - Katie Kitchen and Allison Long both scored 19 points to lead Thomas More to an 83-64 victory over Washington & Jefferson College in Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball action from the Henry Memorial Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Saints (15-4, 11-1) opened up a 15-point, first-half lead, but the Presidents (10-9, 5-7) battled back. Senior point guard Vanessa Rivera (Reading, Pa./Wilson) found sophomore guard Kara Seamon (Morgantown, W. Va./University), who canned a three-pointer, capping a 16-5 surge. Thomas More responded with five of the next seven points to make the score at intermission 39-32.
Rivera sank a pair of free throws to knot the game at 41 a piece with 17:15 to go in the second half, but the Saints answered with a 9-0 spurt and never looked back.
Thomas More shot a scalding 59.4 percent (19-32) during the second stanza and eventually extended its advantage to as large as 19 points.
Three players turned in double-figure scoring performances for the Presidents, led by senior Blair Cotton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic), who recorded a team-high 16 points. Cotton connected on 6-of-10 shots from the field, including four from beyond the arc, and also grabbed seven rebounds.
Rivera contributed 14 points and nine assists, while senior Ashley Kirkpatrick (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) added 12 points and six boards.
The Saints held a 40-32 edge on the glass and made 52.3 percent (34-65) of their shots, compared to 37.5 percent (21-56) for W&J.
Kitchen nailed 8 of her 11 field goal attempts and handed out six assists, while Moriah Corey recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
The Presidents open a week-long road trip at Westminster on Wednesday (6:00 pm). The Titans downed W&J 65-49 on December 10.
