University of St. Thomas Athletics
22-0, 15-0MIAC
St. Catherine
7-15, 2-13MIAC
Tommie Women's Hoops -- 24 Game Notes
2/11/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Up Next
No. 2-ranked and first-place St. Thomas (23-0 overall, 16-0 MIAC) plays Wed. Feb. 18 at second-place Bethel (7 p.m.) and Sat. Feb. 21 at home against Hamline (1 p.m.)
Tenth-year UST coach Ruth Sinn won her 200th game at St. Thomas on Jan. 17, a 73-47 victory at Hamline. Sinn is 208-70.
Road Warriors
The UST women have won 14 consecutive road games (and 19 of 20) dating back to last season. That's the third longest current streak in Division III. Their 11-0 road record ranks in the top five in all of NCAA basketball.
On a Roll
The Tommies have won 47 of their last 50 games against MIAC opponents. They are 29-1 overall since mid-February 2014.
Three years ago, UST won 30 consecutive games in a 31-2, third-place NCAA finsh.
Winning in Winter
Since Dec. 5, St. Thomas is a combined 46-3-2 in the sports of men's basketball (17-1), women's basketball (18-0), and men's hockey (11-2-2).
That includes five victories over nationally-ranked teams over that span and a 24-1 record in January.
Did You Know?
The Tommies' 23-0 start is the second best in program history (the 1991-92 team started 27-0 before losing in round two of the NCAA playoffs).
They are the last of 42 conference hockey or basketball teams that is still unbeaten, and last of 85 Minnesota collegian hockey/basketball teams with no losses.
Dee-Fence
UST is allowing just 47.0 points per game to lead the conference and rank third nationally. The Toms are 114-1 over the last six seasons when they hold opponents under 60 points. Opponents are converting just 34.5 percent from the field and are averaging 18 turnovers.
Wartburg was averaging 79 points a game in eight contests before being held to 50 by UST. Carthage's 45 points were its fewest in their previous 96 games.
More NCAA Stats
UST is second nationally in field-goal shooting at 46.5; third in scoring defense; ninth in rebound margin (plus 11.2); and ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio (plus 1.20).
100 Plus
The Feb. 7 home win over Carleton was the 114th game for the UST seniors in their four-year era, and the Toms are 101-13 so far.
Did You Know, 2?
Out of 1,000-plus institutions that sponsor NCAA basketball programs, just four currently have both their men's and women's teams ranked in the top 10 nationally;
- Notre Dame
- Duke
- Louisville
- St. Thomas
UST is one of eight unbeaten men's and women's teams at all NCAA levels.
Three Spree
St. Thomas sank 11 treys (11-of-27) in the Dec. 19 win over Wartburg, with five different players sinking at least one. That was a season high and one off its school record.
Eight different Toms have made a trey, led by Katie Stone's 34. UST averages 5.9 made 3-pointers a game while allowing 3.8 a contest.
UST has won its last 17 games when Stone scores in double figures, and is 15-1 on her career when Stone makes three or more 3-pointers in a game.
Balance
UST has four starters averaging between 13.3 and 7.9 points a game. The Tommie bench is averaging 23.8 ppg and 17 rpg.
More Bench
Front-liners Alyssa Favilla (42-of-68) and Kaitln Langer (37-65) are shooting a combined 79-of-133 (59 percent) off the bench.
Elaine Warner has been another money player off the bench the last three seasons. The Toms are 16-0 on her career in games when she's scored eight or more points. She's played in all 81 games over the last three seasons and has contributed 387 points and 255 rebounds. Warner scored a career-best 21 points in the Jan. 21 defeat of St. Olaf.
Best Win?
St. Thomas pulled away from Carthage (Wis.) for a 67-45 road victory on Dec. 30. UST broke to a 20-2 lead but Carthage -- a 26-win team last season -- pulled within 34-31 in the second half. The Toms countered with a 27-4 run to blow open the game. That ended Carthage's 14-game home win streak.
Did You Know, 3?
St. Thomas has secured its sixth consecutive 20-win season. The Toms are 110-14 against conference opponents since January 2010.
Coach Ruth Sinn's last eight Tommie teams have come up big down the stretch, with a 63-10 record in February games. Over the last seven seasons, UST has an overall record of 158-35.
Did You Know 4?
Both the Tommie men and women are simultaneously ranked in the top five nationally. That's a first for any MIAC school in the 17-year history of Division III polling.
The St. Thomas men (21-2) is No. 3 in the D3hoops.com poll. The UST women (23-0) moved up one to No. 2 in both the USA Today WBCA poll and D3hoops.com rankings.
The Tommie men have been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 nationally in four different seasons since 2008. The Tommie women were ranked No. 3 to close 2012 and were also No. 3 back in December 2001.
UST's teams recorded a rare 12-0 non-conference regular-season record in the 2014 portion of its women's and men's schedules. That's the best combined record in such games by any MIAC institution since the conference went to 18-game schedules in the 1980s.
New Format
MIAC women's basketball debuted a new format this winter, with a schedule reduced from 22 to 18 conference games. That allows teams to face seven non-conference opponents. And it means four conference opponents will be played only once.
The Tommies will have only one regular-season matchup this winter against St. Mary's, St. Olaf, Bethel and Macalester.
Thus far, conference women's teams are a combined 53-27 outside the league, led by UST's 7-0 mark. The MIAC slate includes a 29-2 record vs. Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) schools.
Superlatives
The Tommies broke a school record in 2011-12 in free-throw percentage at .765. The 2012-13 team converted at a .734 clip; last year's squad finished at 75 percent; and this year's team is shooting at 74.0 percent.
They're Back…
The last time before this fall that seniors Jenna Dockter, Anna Smith and Maggie Weiers played together in a game for the Tommies was during their 2012 run to the Final Four and a third-place national finish. Since then, all three have spent significant time rehabbing injuries. Weiers missed all of 2012-13 with a foot injury aggravated in the first game of that season. Last winter, Dockter missed November through January games after recovering from an ACL knee injury that occurred prior to the start of the 2013-14 season. Smith suffered a season-ending ACL knee injury in early January 2014.
UST is 61-4 when this group has been healthy and on the floor together.
Weiers has played in 113 games and has 1,315 points and 808 rebounds. Weiers moved past Kirsten Vipond into No. 2 on the Tommies' career rebounding list and now ranks sixth on UST's career scoring list. She needs one blocked shot to move to No. 4 on UST's all-time list.
The Tommie women have won their last 31 games when Smith has been on the court. The Toms lost a one-point road game to open the 2013-14 season then won eight in a row before Smith suffered a season-ending knee injury. Smith recorded her seventh career double double in the Dec. 6 win over St. Ben's. She has 731 points, 482 rebounds in 94 games.
UST is 29-2 since Dockter came back from an injury last February.
St. Thomas Career Rebounding Leaders
1,204, Laurie Trow (1989-93)
808, Maggie Weiers (2010-current)
724, Kirsten Vipond (1994-98)
716, Jessica Katch (2005-09)
St. Thomas Career Scoring Leaders
2,607, Laurie Trow (1989-93)
1,700, Kirsten Vipond (1994-98)
1,557, Missy Pederson (1998-02)
1,398, Taylor Young (2011-14)
1,345, Laura Witte (1993-97)
1,315, Maggie Weiers (2010-current)
1,295, Jessica Katch (2005-09)
St. Thomas Career Blocked Shots Leaders
203, Laurie Trow (1989-93)
137, Rachel Booth (2009-11)
106, Taylor Young (2001-14)
93, Jessica Katch (2005-09)
...93, Maggie Weiers (2010-current)
Tradition
St. Thomas women's basketball has won 19 or more games in 27 of the last 35 seasons. That includes a 55-30 postseason record. From 1990-92, led by an NCAA champion team, Tommie women's hoops won 40 consecutive games, including the first 27 of 1991-92.
The Tommies' all-time NCAA tournament record is 40-21 in 21 appearances since 1984. St. Thomas has played in five Final Fours, with a 1-4 record on Fridays and a 5-0 record on Saturdays.
St. Thomas has won 15 MIAC regular-season championships in women's hoops, to surpass St. Ben's for the most by a conference institution.
Title Chase
St. Thomas won either the regular-season or playoff title in the MIAC in each of the last six seasons:
- The Toms won the MIAC playoff title as the No. 5 seed in 2009-10;
- won the 2011-12 crown as the top seed;
- claimed the 2012-13 playoff championship at the No. 2 seed;
- took last year's championship against St. Mary's as the third seed;
- UST won the conference regular-season championships in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Home Helps
The Toms are 50-3 at home the last four seasons, including a 12-2 mark last winter and 11-0 record this season. They are 62-6 on campus in five seasons since the opening of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex.
Did You Know, 5?
Over the last six seasons against conference opponents, the Toms are 84-2 when they score 65 or more points.
Poll Talk
St. Thomas was ranked No. 12 in the preseason poll by D3hoops.com. This week, they are ranked No. 2 by D3Hoops.com and in the USA Today WBCA poll.
In the MIAC preseason poll of coaches, St. Thomas received 11 of 12 first-place votes and was tabbed for first place.
Off the Court
The Tommies' eight-player senior class has an impressive 3.51 grade-point average led by Beth Wittry's 3.93.
Head Coach Ruth Sinn
Ruth Sinn is in her 10th season at St. Thomas and her 28th season as a head coach at the prep and college level. Her Tommie teams have won 70 percent of their games with a combined record of 208-70 (162-49 conference regular season).
Sinn was named 2012 West Region Coach of the Year. She has guided the Tommies to conference regular-season and/or playoff championships in six consecutive seasons.
In the Zone
Women's Basketball is one of eight UST sports to be ranked first, second or third nationally over the last 25 months. St. Thomas placed ninth out of 435 institutions in the 2013-14 Division III Directors' Cup all-sports race.
Point of Pride
St. Thomas is the lone NCAA institution -- in D-I, II or III -- to win a team national championship in each of the sports of men's and women's basketball, softball, baseball and volleyball.
