University of St. Thomas Athletics
21-3, 15-2MIAC
St. Olaf
12-12, 7-10MIAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Olaf | 13 | 5 | 19 | 9 | 46 |
| St. Thomas | 16 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 69 |
Women's basketball clinches share of MIAC title
2/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL – The St. Thomas women's basketball team took a 32-18 lead into halftime and never looked back on the way to a 69-46 victory over St. Olaf on Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies improve to 21-3 overall and 15-2 in the MIAC, while the Oles fall to 12-12 overall and 7-10 in league play.
St. Thomas clinches at least a share in the regular season MIAC title thanks to its 11th straight win. The Tommies will take on Saint Mary's with a chance to clinch the conference crown outright on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
St. Thomas has now won either the regular-season or playoff championship in MIAC women's hoops each of the last seven seasons.
After taking a 16-13 at the end of the first quarter, the Tommies outscored the Oles 16-5 in the second to take a 32-18 lead into halftime. If not for a made jumper at the buzzer that included a foul and a free throw from Lauren Gutierrez, St. Thomas would have held St. Olaf to just two points in the quarter.
The Tommie women shot 54.1-percent (13-24) in the opening half, while holding St. Olaf to a cool 30.4-percent (7-23).
The Oles came out to open the second half on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to seven points (34-27) less than three minutes into the third quarter. But it was all the closer the Oles would get, as the Tommies countered by closing the quarter on a 6-0 run to push the lead back to 13 points (50-37).
St. Thomas sealed the win by outscoring St. Olaf 19-9 in the final frame to breeze to the 23-point victory.
St. Thomas shot 56.5-percent (26-46) from the floor, while holding St. Olaf to just 33.3-percent shooting (15-45). The Tommies also made 10-of-23 from deep and capitalized on 24 Ole turnovers to score 23 points off of those miscues.
Senior Katie Stone led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor, including a 5-of-6 mark from three-point range. Kaitlin Langer followed with 12 points and five rebounds. Lauren Gutierrez was the top scorer for the Oles with 12 points.
St. Thomas will be back in action again on Saturday afternoon when it hosts Saint Mary's at 3:00 pm.
