University of St. Thomas Athletics
30-0
Hope
25-5
Defense reigns, WBB advances past Hope
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. – The St. Thomas women's basketball team held Hope College to 27.9-percent shooting on its way to a 55-47 win in the NCAA Division III sectional semifinals Friday night at the Connor Center on the campus of Thomas More College. With the win, the Tommies advance to the sectional final tomorrow night at 7 pm ET (6:00 pm CT) with a trip to championship weekend on the line.
Second-ranked St. Thomas improves to 30-0 on the year, which is the first time an MIAC women's team has opened the season with 30 straight wins.
"I am just proud of how tough our girls were tonight," commented Head Coach Ruth Sinn. "We had a couple of injuries to seniors in the first half, but we fought through it and found a way to beat a very good Hope team."
In a first half that was filled with adrenaline and emotion, UST committed 11 turnovers and scored just 22 points. The bright side: Hope committed nine turnovers and scored a mere 13, as the St. Thomas defense was stifling in the opening 20 minutes.
The low-scoring, defensive minded start saw just 19 points combined in the opening 10 minutes, as the Tommies opened up a 13-6 lead. Jenna Dockter dropped in a jumper before Hope took off on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to just two points (15-13) with just 4:27 remaining before the break. But the Tommies responded with a 7-0 run of their own to end the half, holding the Dutch to scoreless in the final four and a half to take a 22-13 lead in to halftime.
Dockter led the way, scoring half of her team's 22 points (11) in the opening 20 minutes, as the Tommie women clamped down defensively, holding Hope to just 18.5-percent shooting. UST also outrebounded the Dutch 17-14, led by Maggie Weiers with nine.
"I think the good start was critical for us coming out to open the game," said Dockter. "We play better and are much more confident when we are the team to strike first. The way we started was big for us."
St. Thomas opened the second half on a 13-7 run thanks to a trio of three-pointers from Katie Stone. The run cracked open a 15-point lead (35-20) just five minutes after the break.
From there, UST would not look back, opening up a lead as large as 20 points (46-26) midway through the final frame. Hope made a comeback bid, as back-to-back threes brought the Flying Dutch back within 12 points (48-36), but the Tommies had the answer with back-to-back scoring possessions.
Hope would come as close as nine in the final minutes of the contest, but could not come any closer, as the No. 2-ranked St. Thomas inside presence proved to be too much for the Flying Dutch.
The Tommies finished the game shooting 42.6-percent (20-47) from the field and 29.4-percent (5-17) from the three-point line, compared to 27.9-percent (17-61) and 35-percent (7-20), respectively, for Hope. Although the Tommies held the Fying Dutch to over 20 points below their season average, the rebounding battle was nearly even, as St. Thomas held a 38-37 advantage on the boards. UST also flexed a 28-16 edge in points in the paint.
Dockter led all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field. She also dished out a game-high six assists in the win. Stone followed Dockter with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including a 4-for-8 mark from behind the three-point line. Maggie Weiers led the Tommies with nine rebounds.
Brittany Berry led Hope in scoring with 14 points to go along with five boards and five assists, while Rebekah Llorens notched a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Hope's leading scorer, Maura McAfee, was held to four points on the night.
"We had a good scouting report coming in," stated Anna Smith. "We wanted to give them different looks to try and take away two of their three top players, and I think we did a nice job of that tonight."
St. Thomas now awaits the winner of host No. 1 Thomas More and No. 8 Washington University, St. Louis for a date in tomorrow night's sectional final at 7:00 pm ET.
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