- The Covenant women's basketball team opened the season, and the Skylar Bareford coaching era, with an 89-47 loss to nationally-ranked Thomas More in the first game of the Lee's Famous Chicken/Hampton Inn Classic, hosted by Centre, Friday evening in Danville.
Taylor Robinson led Covenant (0-1) with 17 points in the loss. Thomas More, ranked No. 5 in the current D3hoops.com Top 25, improves to 3-0 on the year.
Covenant got off to a tough start in the opening quarter and Thomas More shot over 69 percent in the period to grab a 24-9 lead at the break.
The Saints would lead by 25 (45-20) at halftime and the Scots were not able to mount a comeback over the final 20 minutes.
Robinson went 6-of-12 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and also collected four rebounds in the loss for the Scots. Margo Koby came off the bench to grab a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points. Raquel Rosa added nine points and two boards, while Hannah Monday led the team with four assists.
For the game, Covenant shot 32.1 percent (17-of-53) from the field. The Scots shot the ball at a 46 percent clip in the third quarter.
Thomas More, a national semifinalist in 2018, was led by four players in double figure scoring. Madison Temple had a game-best 20 points to go with four assists and six rebounds to lead the Saints. Briana McNutt had 12 points, Kaela Saner 11, and Shelby Rupp 10. The Saints controlled the painted area with a 46-14 edge in points scored. Thomas More shot an even 50 percent (34-of-68) from the field and went 13-for-14 at the foul line.
Covenant will face classic host in Centre on Saturday at 6 p.m.