University of St. Thomas Athletics
10-0
Washington (Mo.)
5-5
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Thomas | 20 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 66 |
| WashU | 11 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 36 |
Defense fuels Women's Basketball win
12/29/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
No. 3-ranked St. Thomas Women's Basketball received 45 points and 18 rebounds inside from senior Hannah Spaulding, soph Kaia Porter and freshman Brynne Rolland and used a shut-down defense to roll to a 66-36 victory over Washington (Mo.) Saturday afternoon at the Wartburg tournament in Waverly, Iowa.
The Tommies (10-0) will face No. 24-ranked Wartburg on the Knights' court for the championship Sunday at 3 p.m.
St. Thomas helped forced 22 turnovers and helped limit the Bears (5-5) to their lowest scoring game in 35 seasons. A perennial national power, the Bears have finished in the national top-25 rankings 20 of the last 21 seasons and won four NCAA championships between 1999 and 2010. The only previous basketball meeting between the two women's programs came in St. Paul in March 2001 in the NCAA playoffs, and the Bears won en route to a national championship.
The Toms had a 47-19 advantage on points by the starters, and used a 20-0 mid-game run to build a 51-23 lead late in the third quarter.
Wash U. shot just 27 percent from the field and scored only four-third-quarter points.
Porter scored 19 points, Spaulding added 16 points, seven boards and four steals, and Kaylie Brazil added five steals.
