Crestview Hills, Ky. (Women's Basketball) – Ashley McMurtrey (FR/Louisville, Ky.) notched a team-high 23 points and Ali Zieverink (JR/West Chester, Ohio) added a double-double, but the Shawnee State women's basketball team was outscored by 10 points during the second half, as the Bears were defeated, 68-58, at the hands of Thomas More College in their first game at the Julie Costello Memorial Tournament on Friday night at the Connor Center.
The Bears and Saints were deadlocked at 33 at the break, though SSU lead for the majority of the half. The visitors jumped ahead 6-2 in the opening minutes, before a 9-2 run from TMC gave the Saints an 11-8 advantage with 13 minutes to play.
McMurtrey followed with back-to-back triples and a layup for eight straight points to return the advantage to the Bears. Shawnee State led by as many as seven when McMurtrey added another triple with just under four minutes to play in the half.
Thomas More followed with an 11-4 run in the closing minutes of the half on the shoulders of 10 points from Sydney Moss, including a pair of three-pointers. Moss finished the contest with a game-high 34 points, scoring half of the Saints' buckets.
Despite having the advantage for the majority of the opening half, Shawnee State never led in the second period, as Thomas More jumped ahead 44-39 over the first six minutes of the half. The lead extended to 10 at the 7:14 mark with a layup from Moss.
Shawnee State closed the gap to two following a jumper from Zieverink, a triple from McMurtrey and another three from Abby Feuchter (JR/Cincinnati, Ohio), but Moss again responded hitting back-to-back buckets to push it to 58-52 with four minutes remaining.
SSU never got the deficit closer than six points for the rest of the game, as the Saints scored on three straight possessions.
SSU shot 41.5 percent in the contest on 22-of-53 shooting, and hit 7-of-17 from three-point range. McMurtrey was 5-of-9 from behind the arc. Zieverink closed the game with 14 points and 10 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass. Feuchter notched a game-high snine assists, adding seven caroms and eight points.
SSU returns to action for an afternoon battle with Otterbein University to close out the Julie Costello Memorial Classic on Saturday. The two squads are set to tip-off at 2 p.m.
