St. Thomas, Purdue Fort Wayne tip-off Thursday night at Schoenecker Arena

St. Paul, Minn. -- St. Thomas Women's Basketball returns to Schoenecker Arena Thursday to host Purdue Fort Wayne. The Tommies and Mastodons tip-off at 7 p.m. in the first game of the series.

The Last Time Out
St. Thomas went 1-1 over its last week of action, beginning with a 62-43 win at Utah Valley before a 58-54 overtime loss at Idaho State.

Sophomore Sammy Opichka neared her second 20-point performance of the season against the Wolverines. She led all scorers with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

The Tommies jumped out to a 10-0 start in the game before a 13-0 run by the Wolverines to take the lead in the second quarter. St. Thomas put together runs of 11-0 and 18-0 for a 54-30 lead with 6:01 to play.

Jo Langbehn led St. Thomas with a career-high 14 points Saturday against the Bengals. She went 6-of-13 from the floor and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Maggie Negaard scored 11 points and tied Langbehn with six rebounds.

St. Thomas limited Idaho State to four field goals in the first half, leading to a game-high 14-point lead, 32-18, midway through the third quarter. ISU began its comeback with a 16-3 run and grabbed its first lead of the game, 41-40. Both teams traded scores in overtime until a Tommie shot was blocked late in the game.

Scouting Purdue Fort Wayne
The Mastodons are 4-5 overall and 1-1 in the Horizon League. Purdue Fort Wayne opened its conference schedule Dec. 2 with a 58-49 win over Detroit Mercy followed by a 66-64 loss Dec. 4 to Oakland.

Amelia Bromenschenkel leads the Mastodons and ranks fifth in the Horizon League with 14.0 points per game. She's shooting 43.9 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks third in the conference and 62nd in the country.

Purdue Fort Wayne ranks among the top of the country in 3-point shooting, ranking 10th with 29.2 3-point attempts per game and 37th with 8.4 3-pointers per game. The Mastodons also rank 31st in the nation with 21.67 turnovers forced per game and 46th with 10.9 steals per game. Purdue Fort Wayne shoots 36.9 percent from the field and pulls down 32.4 rebounds per game.

Series History
St. Thomas and Purdue Fort Wayne have never played.

A Pair of Overtimes
St. Thomas recorded its first instance of two overtimes games over a three-game stretch since 2002-03, going to overtime against Concordia (Minn.) in an 80-77 win and against Macalester in a 67-59 loss.

The Tommies went to overtime twice in 2021-22 and played in overtime twice from 2018-20.

Good Defense, Bad Result
St. Thomas' loss at Idaho State is the first of the season when limiting its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the field. The Tommies held the Bengals to 4-22 from the field in the first half and 21-61 in the game.

Running Point
Sophomore Jade Hill has scored in double digits in all but one game this season and led the Tommies in scoring two times. She tied a career-high 24 points in the Nov. 19 win over Presbyterian and set a season-high six assists Nov. 15 at Illinois State. Hill has led the team in assists in five of seven games.

Hill leads the Summit League with 2.6 steals per game and is 10th with 13.0 points per game.

Sophomore Alexis Pratt recorded her first double-digit scoring game with the Tommies on 10 points against Presbyterian. She added three assists against PC and set a new season-high with four at UIC.

Sammy 2-O
Sophomore Sammy Opichka went off for a career-high 20 points Nov. 15 at Illinois State. She was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. She also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds, including three offensive rebounds that were converted for six second-chance points.

This is the first instance of a Tommie recording at least 20 points and 8 rebounds in a game since Macy Hatlestad recorded 26 points and nine rebounds Feb. 3, 2021 against Bethel. It's also the first time a Tommie went at least 6-of-6 from the field since Langbehn went 6-of-6 against Oral Roberts on Feb. 5, 2022.

After scoring 18 points Thursday at Utah Valley, Opichka surpassed her scoring total from the 2021-22 season. She totaled 45 points as a freshman and is now second on the team with 62 total points this season.

The Efficient Trio
Jordyn Lamker, Sam Opichka and Jo Langbehn each rank among the top eight in the Summit League in field goal percentage. Lamker leads the Tommies and is fifth in the league shooting 53.5 percent, Opichka is sixth shooting 50.0 percent and Langbehn is eighth shooting 48.9 percent.

No other Summit League program has two student-athletes among the top eight in field goal percentage.

New to the Elevation
Last Saturday was the second straight game played at elevation after facing the altitude just once last season.

Orem, Utah (4,744') and Pocatello, Idaho (4,462') are below the elevation of Denver (5,279') where St. Thomas played during the Summit League schedule a season ago.

The trip was also the farthest of the season, totaling 2,703 miles round trip from St. Paul to Orem to Pocatello and back home again. That's just 200 miles shy of the distance from San Francisco to New York City.

Where Are My Upperclassmen At?
Graduate student Autam Mendez, and seniors Jordyn Glynn and Maggie Negaard are the only three upperclassmen on the team. The 2022-23 Tommies are comprised of three upperclassmen, eight sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen.

Glynn is the only member of the team who was with the program during its NCAA DIII days. She played in 24 games with 17 starts last season to average 4.3 rebounds and 2.8 points per game. Glynn is averaging 3.9 rebounds per game this season, totaling at least four in five games.

Negaard played her first season with the Tommies in 2021-22 after transferring in from Drake. She made 24 starts in 27 games played and averaged 5.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. This season, Negaard has led the Tommies in scoring once, totaling 15 points in the win over South Carolina State.

Mendez makes her Tommie debut this season after playing at San Jose State from 2020-22 and at North Iowa Area Community College from 2018-20. Mendez has hit at least one 3-pointer in three straight games.

NCAA Division I Year One in Review
Head Coach Ruth Sinn leads the Tommies into year two of NCAA Division I play after a 7-21 campaign, including a 4-14 mark in the Summit League, last season.

The Tommies bring back nine returners, including three starters, and welcome in six newcomers. Seniors Jordyn Glynn and Maggie Negaard, along with sophomore Jade Hill, were each consistent starters a year ago.

The first Summit League victory for St. Thomas came at home against Denver on Dec. 22, 56-48. The Tommies concluded their first Division I season with a 61-56 road win at Omaha.

Hill played the most minutes per game of any women's freshman player in DI hoops in 2021-22. Hill averaged 36.15 minutes over 28 games. (Only one freshman DI men's player, Trey Townsend of Oakland at 36.24, had a higher per-game average.) Hill also led the entire Summit League in minutes per game.

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St. Thomas, Purdue Fort Wayne tip-off Thursday night at Schoenecker Arena

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Players Mentioned

Jordyn Glynn

Jade Hill

Jordyn Lamker

Jo Langbehn

Autam Mendez

Maggie Negaard

Sammy Opichka

Alexis Pratt

University of St. Thomas Athletics