CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. - The Lindsey Wilson women's basketball team fell just short of Top-Ranked Thomas More (Ky.), giving them a late scare, 57-51 at Connor Convocation Center on Thursday evening.

Alera Barbee led all Blue Raiders in scoring with 16 points followed by Amelia Hodges, continuing her hot streak, and finishing with 15 points.

From the jump the Saints put their foot on the gas jumping out to a 14-2 lead with 3:25 to play in the first quarter, forcing Lindsey Wilson to seven turnovers and using a 42.9 percent three-point percentage to stamp the lead. The Blue Raiders would try to mount the lead placed in front of them, cutting the game to 16-6 at the end of the first ten minutes.

Lindsey Wilson would settle into the game in the second frame, giving way to eight straight points and pressing the Saints into turnovers. A Hodges layup with 5:53 cut the TMU lead to five, but Thomas More got back to their style of play and put together a run pinning the contest at 26-14. Irye Gomez used an and-1 to get three-points the old fashioned way, putting the game at 28-19 and keeping them within striking distance of the Saints going into the break.

Both teams traded blows in the third frame, seeing the contest show a 20-16 third quarter box score as Lindsey Wilson stayed step-for-step. Lucy Patterson picked up her fourth foul with 4:20 in the third quarter, shifting the plan for the Blue Raiders but they did not lose their edge.

Starting the final frame two quick baskets from Thomas More led to a 16-0 run for Lindsey Wilson, slicing the Saints lead to 52-51 as a result of outrebounding the Saints on the offensive and defensive glass 11-2. Gomez drilled her free-throw with just over two minutes to go pinning the contest just at a singular point separating the two squads. Thomas More accelerated their offensive output, getting to the charity stripe and putting the finishing touches to their win. The Saints used the free-throws to end the contest at 57-51, fighting off the upset hungry Blue Raiders.

Lindsey Wilson shot better than their counterparts at a mark of 39.3 percent from the first, compared to Thomas More's 35.3 percent. The Saints separated themselves from deep, connecting on five threes contrary to the Blue Raiders lone made three-point basket.

The Lindsey Wilson women's basketball team will be back in action on the hardwood at Biggers Sports Center on Jan. 28 where they take on Wilberforce (Ohio) at 1 p.m. CT.