University of St. Thomas Athletics
19-5, 15-4MIAC
St. Olaf
8-16, 5-14MIAC
Defense leads the way to win for women's basketball
2/19/2020 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL - Tommie women's basketball held St. Olaf to 23-percent shooting and came away with a 67-48 win at Schoenecker Arena on Wednesday night. With the win, St. Thomas improves to 19-5 overall and 15-4 in the MIAC.
Despite shooting just 37.3-percent (22-59) from the field, the No. 20-ranked Tommies shot 42.9-percent (12-28) from three and put the clamps on defensively to grind out the win on their home floor. With a Gustavus loss, St. Thomas secured the third seed in next week's MIAC Playoffs and has earned a home playoff game on Tuesday night.
Wednesday night's contest fittingly opened in defensive fashion. In fact, the Tommies held St. Olaf scoreless in the first quarter. After 10 minutes of play, St. Thomas led 10-0 as the two teams shot a combined 3-for-32 in the opening frame. Neither team scored for the final 4:29 of the quarter.
The drought didn't last long into the second quarter as the Oles got on the scoreboard just :23 seconds in. St. Olaf came within three points (10-7) before a Shayla Wallin layup stopped the bleeding. The Tommies later took off on a 14-0 run that spanned nearly five minutes and gave the Purple a 27-12 advantage.
The Oles scored the final four points of the half and cut the St. Thomas lead to 13 points (27-16) at the break.
St. Thomas opened that lead up in the third quarter, outscoring the Oles 28-9 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Leading 33-20, Amber Darge canned a three pointer that sparked a 22-5 run to end the third. The Tommies hit three straight from behind the arc on three consecutive possessions in the run, two from Noelle Tomes and one from Wallin to give St. Thomas a 30-point lead (55-25) headed to the fourth quarter.
St. Olaf nearly doubled up the Tommies in the fourth quarter, outscoring St. Thomas 23-12, but the damage was done as the Tommie women wrapped up the 19-point win.
Wallin led all scorers in the game with 16 points on a near-perfect 6-of-7 shooting from the field. She also pulled down seven rebounds. Three other Tommies finished in double figures. Tomes and Darge each finished with 12 points off the bench. Darge recorded all 12 of her points on four triples. Macy Hatlestad was the final Tommie to reach double digits with 10 points. Abby Mackenthun had seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Britta Koenen scored 14 points and Ella Skrien followed with 10 for the Oles. Grace Hegland pulled down a game-high 12 boards.
The Tommies held the Oles to just 23-percent (14-61) shooting from the field and 19-percent (4-21) from three point range. St. Thomas also outrebounded St. Olaf 49-41. The battle of the benches went the way of the Purple as well with a final count of 33-12.
St. Thomas will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when the Tommies host Saint Mary's on Parent's Day for a 3:00pm tip.
