It was another balanced attack that pushed the St. Thomas women’s basketball team to an 82-60 win over the Crandall University Chargers.
For the second game in a row, every player in a Tommie uniform scored. Leading the way was Kelly Vass, who leads the ACAA in both points and steals. She scored 15 points, and had 10 boards and five assists to accompany it. Hilary Goodine, Jessica Patenaude and Sara Banks all scored 13 points in the winning effort.
“Everybody’s got to be a threat. Some people are better shooters, some people are better slashers, but at the end of the day everyone has to find a way to contribute,” said Tommies coach Fred Connors.
The Tommies were up 10 going into the second half. A strong third quarter doubled the Tommies lead, and that put the game out of reach for Crandall. Vass said it was the second half where the Tommies really came together.
“Our first half was slow and sloppy,” said Vass. She said that in the second half they moved the ball better, and ran the floor. Crandall only had eight players dressed to play, and had a plethora of foul trouble. Five players had three or four fouls, and one fouled out.
In the end the Tommies defense made sure they won the game. STU kept the Chargers from getting going, making them only able to hit 26 per cent of their shots. Shamera O’Neal put up 27 shots for Crandall but only hit six of them.
“I thought our defense was a step slow in the first half,” said Connors. “I thought [our defense] was awesome in the second half.”
The win came against a Crandall team that improved drastically from last season. Last year, the Tommies beat Crandall 103-7. Connors is impressed with not only Crandall, but ACAA women’s basketball overall.
“It’s the most competitive I’ve ever seen our league,” said Connors, whose in his 13th season as head coach of the Tommies.
The Tommies are a third of the way through their season, and are (PLEASE FIX, Either 5-1 or 6-0). They will have the Christmas break to recover, and prepare for the rest of their season.
