University of St. Thomas Athletics
20-7, 15-7
Gustavus Adolphus
20-6, 18-4
Women win again in MIAC playoffs, on to finals
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By DOUG HENNES
ST. PETER -- The St. Thomas women's basketball team upset regular-season co-champion Gustavus Adolphus 63-60 here Wednesday night in an MIAC playoff semifinal to advance to Saturday's title game at top-seed St. Benedict.
The Tommies, twice beaten by the Gusties during the regular season, tied the game 54-54 at the 5:04 
mark on a Jazmin Townsend jumper. They grabbed the lead for good with 4:10 left on a Sarah Smith layup.
St. Thomas (20-7) extended the lead to 61-56 before the Gusties scored four straight to narrow the margin to a point with 11 seconds remaining. Jordyn Sears sank two free throws with nine seconds to go, and Gustavus missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
The game had 11 ties, but after a Molly Geske trey put the Gusties up 52-50 with 9:19 left, the Tommies' defense clamped down. Geske didn't score again and her team could muster only eight more points.
PHOTO: Jazmin Townsend
"The pace of the game changed midway through the second half," St. Thomas coach Ruth Sinn said. "You often see that in close games in playoff basketball. Both defenses did a great job, and you could feel the pressure out there."
St. Thomas now has won 12 road games this season, and has a conference-best 30 road victories in the last three seasons. UST improved to 11-0 when holding opponents to 60 or fewer points.
UST shot 55% from the floor in the second half and on the night sank 12-of-15 free throws.
The Tommies survived a scare with seven minutes to go when junior center Rachel Booth twisted her ankle and had to come out. She returned two minutes later after a quick tape job and hit a jumper, finishing with 20 points (on 9-of-14 shooting), 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Townsend added 14 points, Sears had 11 and Becky Theisen had eight points and five rebounds for St. Thomas.
Geske's 22 points led Gustavus, but after a 7-for-11 start and 15 points in the first half, she hit only two of nine shots in the second. "We put Jaz (Townsend) on Geske and she really held her in check," Sinn said. "She couldn't have played better defense."
The victory gave Sinn her second 20-win season in five years and landed her team in the 3 p.m. Saturday title game against archrival St. Benedict in St. Joseph. The Blazers trailed sixth-seed St. Catherine 35-23 at the half in the other semifinal but rallied to send the game into overtime and win 69-61.
The Tommies and Blazers split during the regular season, with both teams winning on the road. St. Thomas took the first game, 66-65, on Jan. 16 and St. Benedict won 60-51 on Feb. 13. The winner of Saturday's game will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
Gustavus, which came in tabked fourth in the West Region coaches' poll, dropped to 20-6 on the season and must wait to Monday to see if it will receive an at-large NCAA bid.
Click here for box score:
http://gustavus.edu/athletics/wbb/archives/2009-10/stats/ust3.htm
