University of St. Thomas Athletics
6-2MIAC, 12-3
Saint Mary's
7-1MIAC, 13-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Thomas | 27 | 19 | 14 | 16 | 76 |
| Saint Mary's | 17 | 12 | 19 | 19 | 67 |
Women's basketball rains threes, collects big win
1/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WINONA, Minn. – The St. Thomas women's basketball team went 10-for-20 from three-point range and handed Saint Mary's University its first conference loss of the season with a 76-67 win on Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's Gym.
The loss moves the Tommies (12-3, 6-2 MIAC) into second place in the conference standings, just one game behind the Cardinals (13-2, 7-1 MIAC).
St. Thomas came out firing in the first quarter, making nine of 17 field goal attempts, including a 5-of-8 mark to jump out to a quick 27-17 lead heading to the second. Senior Katie Stone led the way in the quarter. The sniper was a perfect 4-of-4 from deep and sparked the Tommie offense with 12 points. St. Thomas also got six points off the bench from Bobbi Brendefur in just four minutes of play.
The Tommie women built upon their lead in the second quarter, outscoring Saint Mary's 19-12 to take a 46-29 lead to the half. St. Thomas continued to pour in threes in the second quarter, making three more for a first half total of 9-for-15.
But the Cardinals did not go down without a fight. Trailing by 18 midway through the third quarter, Saint Mary's finished the quarter on a 13-7 run over the final six minutes to close the gap to a manageable 12 points heading to the fourth.
A 6-0 run by Emma Schaefer that encompassed the midpoint of the fourth pulled the Cardinals within six points (68-62), but it was as close as Saint Mary's would come, as the Tommies made enough key free throws down the stretch to secure the nine-point victory.
St. Thomas made 24-of-54 field goal attempts, which equated to a 44.4-percent shooting percentage for the afternoon. That mark included a 50-percent (10-20) rate from behind the arc. On the contrary, the Cardinals were held to just 34.5-percent (20-58) shooting and 16.7-percent (3-18) from three.
The Tommies also got a big contribution from their reserves, outscoring Saint Mary's 22-2 in bench points.
Stone led three Tommies in double figures with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-9 from downtown. Lucia Renikoff followed with 16 points, while Laruen Fischer added 13 points and six rebounds.
Micaela Meredith led all scorers with 24 points for the Cardinals on 6-of-12 shooting from the field and a perfect 11-for-11 mark from the free throw line.
Sam Jones added 15 and Bridget Pethke dropped 11.
St. Thomas will be back on the road on Wednesday when they travel to Northfield, Minn., to take on St. Olaf. That game is set for a 7:00 pm tip off.
