MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In their second and final contest of the Miami Exclusive Invitational, the Regals fell short to the No. 2 Thomas More Saints 76-42. Sophomore Jade Jordan led the offensive with a perfect 3-3 from behind the three-point arc, all in the third quarter alone.
Ranked second in the nation by D3Hoops.com, Thomas More entered the contest 13-0 on the season, continuing their undefeated start to the season after this afternoon's match. Last year, the Saints went 30-2 overall and reached the Final Four of the NCAA Postseason Tournament.
Senior guard Rylie Wada got the Regals on the board in the first half with the quick layup. Freshman Mackenzy Iwahashi followed with a layup of her own before sophomore Jessi Westering drained a three from the top left of the arc. Senior Kayla Watterson closed out the first with another one off the glass to close out the Regals' offense in the first, trailing Thomas More 22-9 after the first ten minutes of play.
Iwahashi then tallied her second layup of the night and freshman Cameron Mallory pulled up on the right side to hit a big three to close out the second quarter for Cal Lutheran. However, the Saints continued their offensive tear, finding space in the paint to pull away for the 40-14 lead at the half.
Fired up heading into the back half of the contest, threes became the highlight of the third quarter. Jordan could not be stopped, pulling up for the three to beat the shot clock just a minute into the quarter. On the next possession, Jordan did it again, another deep three to go back-to-back. The momentum continued as sophomore Kailee Yan followed with a deep three of her own to make it three sinkers in a row for the Regals.
For the third time in the period, Jordan pulled back at the top of the arc for the three at the buzzer, and just like before, she got all net to end the quarter and send the Regals into the fourth. Down 59-28 entering the final ten minutes of the contest, Cal Lutheran held Thomas More to its lowest scoring quarter, but fell by an eventual score of 76-42.
After today's contest, Cal Lutheran moves to 5-5 overall on the season. The Regals return to the court after Christmas for the Regals Classic, taking on William Smith on Friday, December 28, and Whitworth on Sunday, December 30. Both games tip off at 4 p.m. PST inside Gilbert Arena.
Box Score: TMU 76, CLU 42
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director
