Thomas More Wins Sixth-Straight PAC Tournament Title With a 77-66 Win Over Saint Vincent

(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) - Sophomore guard Devin Beasley (Burlington, Ky./Conner) recorded her first career double-double to lead the No. 1 seed Thomas More College women's basketball team to a 77-66 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament championship game win over No. 2 seed Saint Vincent College today (Saturday, February 25, 2012) at the Connor Convocation Center in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

With the win, the Saints improve to 24-4 and earn the PAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for a sixth-straight season. The NCAA Division III Championship brackets will be announced on Monday (February 27) on the NCAA Championship Website (www.ncaa.com) at 2:30 p.m.  With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 22-6.

Thomas More jumped out to an early 8-4 lead when Beasley made a lay-up with 16:01 to play in the first half.  Saint Vincent answered with a 26-19 run to take a 30-27 with 5:54 to play in the half when Jessica Welch made a jumper.  The Saints closed out the half on a 15-5 run to take a 42-35 lead when Beasley made one-of-two free-throws with 16-seconds to play in the opening half.

Thomas More opened the second half on an 8-6 run to increase the lead to 50-41 when junior guard Jill Brunsman (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) made one-of-two free-throws with 14:09 to play in the game.  The Bearcats responded with an 8-4 run capped by two Emily Fenton free-throws to cut the lead to 54-49 with 11:45 to play in the game.  The Saints answered with a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 66-49 with 8:40 to play in the game when junior forward/center Katie Kees (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mother of Mercy) made a lay-up.  Saint Vincent closed out the game on a 17-11 run, but it wasn't enough as Thomas More won the game 77-66.

Beasley had a career-high 30 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for her double-double.  Joining her in double-figure scoring was junior guard Allison Long (Hebron, Ky./Conner) with 14 points, Kees with 13 points and sophomore forward Moriah Corey (Louisville, Ky./Butler) finished with 12 points.  Beasley also led the team in assists with seven, while Long led the team in assists with three.