University of St. Thomas Athletics
24-3
Saint Mary's
21-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Mary's | 14 | 12 | 8 | 31 | 65 |
| St. Thomas | 19 | 21 | 25 | 12 | 77 |
WBB completes drive for 5 titles
2/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By DOUG HENNES
The net hung by a lone string from the rim on the east end of Schoenecker Arena on Saturday, having been snipped piece by piece by St. Thomas women's basketball players celebrating their fifth consecutive MIAC playoff championship.
An assistant coach walked to the ladder and looked back at Ruth Sinn to see if she wanted to cut the last string. He cut off shorter strands and made way for the head coach to climb the ladder, make the final cut and drop the net over her head.
"No, it never gets old, especially for this group," Sinn said as she soaked in the atmosphere after her No. 8-ranked Tommies (24-3) defeated St. Mary's 77-65 for the MIAC's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. She pointed out the freshmen having their photo taken.
"At the beginning of the week, we talked as a team what it's like to be able to win a championship and cut down a net," Sinn said. "Some of the freshmen have never been in that kind of environment, so it's new – and special – for them."
The day also was special for senior guard Katie Stone, a stalwart on teams that won six titles, including two in the regular season. She scored a career-high 23 points and her three 3-point baskets in a four-minute span of the second quarter gave her 74 for the season and set an MIAC record.
"I really wanted to win today," she said. "This may be my last home game, and I wanted to go out with a bang and a lot of energy. It was fun!"
More fun awaits at 1:30 p.m. Monday, when the NCAA has a live online show to announce the field for the national tournament. The Tommies expect to play on the road because they hosted last year's opening-weekend games.
Close for a quarter
St. Mary's (21-6) stayed close in the early going, taking a 6-2 lead and trailing only 19-16 after making two free throws to open the second quarter. But the Tommies went on a 15-3 run spurred by 11 points from Stone on a layup and the trio of 3-pointers to jump ahead 34-19, and they led 40-26 at halftime on a buzzer beater by sophomore forward Lauren Fischer.
The Tommies' game plan was to go inside to 6-foot-3 junior center Kaitlin Langer "and then get open shots with our inside-outside game," Sinn said. When Langer didn't kick the ball back out for 3-point shots, she drove to the basket, picking up several fouls and making eight of 10 free throws.
"When we played St. Mary's last weekend and I scored 28 points (a career high), I knew I'd have a challenge today and they'd be motivated to stop me," said Langer, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds. "The rest of the team stepped up – especially Katie."
St. Thomas put the game out of reach early in the third quarter by hitting five of its first seven shots in a 14-0 run that boosted the lead to 54-26. The Cardinals missed their first 14 shots of the quarter, when they were outscored 25-8.
"We played them tight on defense during the third quarter," Sinn said. "They have a good shooting team (four players with 28 or more 3-pointers on the season), and we did a nice job of taking care of the perimeter and not giving them the open 3s."
The Tommies closed the quarter with eight straight points and added the first four of the fourth to take their largest lead at 69-34. St. Mary's turned its game around and made 10 of its final 12 shots, including its only two 3-pointers of the game, to outscore St. Thomas 31-12 in the quarter.
Tommie Notes
Stone's 23 points led four starters in double figures. Langer had 14, Fischer 13 (on six of eight shooting) and guard Paige Gernes 10 plus she won the MIAC's Elite 22 Award for the highest GPA of any player in the title game.
In the 16-year history of the MIAC playoffs, St. Thomas now has six championships, all in the last seven seasons, and has finished second three times. Carleton has five titles, won between 2001 and 2008. Concordia and St. Benedict each have one twice and Gustavus once.
The win was the 14th in a row for St. Thomas over nearly two months, going back to a Jan. 9 home loss to Bethel. The Tommies started the season with eight straight wins, with their three losses coming over a five-game span.
The Tommies are second in Division III in 3-point proficiency (.373) and eighth in field-goal shooting (.450). Stone not only set the MIAC season record for 3-pointers but crept closer to the St. Thomas career mark of 210 set by Missy Pederson between 1999 and 2002. Stone has 195 treys.
