University of St. Thomas Athletics
Omaha
Game Notes - Women’s Basketball closes the first season of Division I era on the road at Omaha
2/25/2022 2:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
St. Paul, Minn. - St. Thomas Women's Basketball (6-21, 3-14) will wrap up its 2021-22 season on the road when the face the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks (7-18, 3-13).
Most recently, Freshman G Jade Hill led the team with 18 points. She was 1-of-4 Tommies to reach double figures, she was joined by grad student F Erin Norling (15), Negaard (12) and grad student F Kaia Porter (11) as the leading scorers for the Tommies as their efforts came up just short in Denver against the Pioneers. The Purple led for over 33 minutes of the contest, but couldn't hang on, falling 66-63.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 58.0 points per game and 33.8 rebounds per game.
Individually, Freshman G Jade Hill is averaging a team-best 13.7 points per game through her first 27 collegiate contests. Hill also leads St. Thomas with 83 assists on the season. Grad student F Erin Norling ranks second on the team with 13.6 points per game. Norling is connecting on 43 percent of her shots from the field and 35 percent of her shots from behind the arc.
Looking in on the Mavericks
Omaha most recently defeated Denver 62-50, last Saturday in the Mile High City. The Mavericks' game against Western Illinois scheduled for the 24th was canceled.
The Omaha Mavericks snapped their ten-game losing streak with their 62-50 win over the Denver Pioneers Saturday in their final road game of the season. Natalie Bartle and Mariah Murdie both scored in double digits leading the way for the Mavericks.
Bartle scored a team-best 16 points on fifty percent shooting while draining five of her six free throws. Murdie chipped in 11 to go along with six rebounds and two blocks. Elena Pilakouta hauled in a team-best eight rebounds.
As a team, Omaha is averaging 57.3 points per game and allowing 65.2 points per game. The Mavericks are shooting 39 percent from the field and 29 percent from behind the arc. Omaha is being out rebounded by its opponents on the season, on average pulling down 33.2 rebounds per game compared to 35.8 by its opponents.
Individually, Mariah Murdie is the only Maverick to average double-digit points per game with 10.8 points. Murdie is joined by Elana Pilakouta who is averaging 9.9 points per game. Murdie is leading the team with 6.7 rebounds per game.
Tommie Leader
Head coach Ruth Sinn is in her 17th season at St. Thomas in 2021-22. Her overall record of 362-109, including a mark of 356-88 in Division III averages out to be a 27-4 over the last nine full seasons.
Sinn returned three starters from a 6-1 team in a shortened 2020-21 season. St. Thomas finished 21-6 in 2019-20, just after a senior-led Tommie team in 2018-19 reached the D-III Final Four with a 30-2 finish.
Last Time Out
The St. Thomas Women's Basketball Team (9-20, 3-14) led for over 33 minutes of the 40 minute contest, but lost the lead late as they fell to Denver (9-19, 4-13), by a score of 66-63.
The Tommies raced out to a 21-12 lead over the first quarter of action connecting on 50 percent (9-of-19) of their shots from the field and 43 percent (3-of-7) from deep in the opening 10 minutes of the game. The Purple also out-rebounded the Pioneers 11-6 in the first quarter.
Both teams put up 16 points in the second quarter to bring the score to 37-28 in favor of the Purple heading into the locker room. St. Thomas cooled off from the field, connecting on 39 percent of its shots in the quarter, but stayed equally hot from behind the arc, once again making 3-of-7 attempts from deep in the second quarter.
Denver came out of the locker room at halftime and found its groove offensively, the Pioneers connected on 56 percent (9-of-16) of their shots from the field in the third quarter and outscored the Tommies 19-12 in the frame to open cut the St. Thomas lead to two points, 49-47 heading into the fourth quarter.
With 8:20 to play in the contest, St. Thomas pushed its lead to seven points, 56-49 by a three-point shot from senior G Maggie Negaard, her ninth points of the game. Denver then went on a 13-2 run to open a 62-58 lead in favor of the Pioneers. Negaard would score her 12th point of the game, a free throw with 1:19 to play to cut the Denver lead to one point, 64-63, but that proved to be the final points for the Purple on the night as they fell 66-63.
As a team, St. Thomas shot 40 percent (24-of-60) from the field and 30 percent (7-of-23) from behind the arc and 62 percent (8-of-13) from the charity stripe and out-rebounded Denver 36-30. The Pioneers made 48 percent of their shots from the field to propel them to the win.
Individually, freshman G Jade Hill led the team with 18 points. She was 1-of-4 Tommies to reach double figures, she was joined by grad student F Erin Norling (15), Negaard (12) and grad student F Kaia Porter (11) as the leading scorers for the Tommies.
Conference Standings
As the Tommies enter their first Summit League games, they are towards the top of a handful of statistic across the conference.
Below are the top-10 individual rankings and statistics for all games by the 10 conference schools this season.
Rank Category Stat
Individual
1st Minutes J. Hill, 35.8 per game
5th Free-Throw Percentage J. Hill, .786
T5th 3-point field goals made E. Norling, 2.0 per game
6th Assist to Turnover Ratio J. Hill, 1.1
7th Assists J. Hill, 3.0 per game
10th Scoring J. Hill, 13.7 per game
Super-Senior Leadership
Grad Student F Kaia Porter ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 6.4 points per game. Porter is an efficient three-point shooter connecting on 30-of-97 attempts (31 percent) of her shots on the season from behind the arc. Porter also averages 4.0 rebounds per game and has dished out 39 assists through 27 games this season.
Grad Student F Erin Norling transferred from Wayne State to join the Tommies in their inaugural D-I season. She ranks second in score for St. Thomas with 13.6 points per game. Norling is connecting on 43 percent (143-of-334) of her shots from the field and 35 percent (54-154) of her shots from behind the arc.
Schedule Talk
The Toms had six November contests, including four on the road and one on a neutral court, followed by six of seven December games at home. They opened Summit League play here in Schoenecker Arena on Dec. 20 and 22 against Omaha and Denver.
Did You Know?
St. Thomas is scheduled to play games in 10 different states and all four time zones this season with trips to Wisconsin, Illinois, California, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota and North Dakota.
Tommie Opponents' Last Season W-L
St. Thomas will play 18 games against its nine Summit League foes and nine other non-conference games against D-I opponents. Here's those 18 teams records so far this season:
Wisconsin (7-20)
Illinois State (15-11)
South Carolina State (4-21)
Presbyterian (10-17)
Cal Poly (3-18)
North Texas (14-10)
Northern Iowa (16-9)
Chicago State (4-20)
Idaho State (18-9)
Omaha (7-18)
Denver (9-19)
Western Illinois (14-12)
Oral Roberts (15-13)
Kansas City (22-6)
North Dakota State (10-17)
North Dakota (15-13)
South Dakota State (20-8)
South Dakota (22-5)
Family Ties
Freshman guard Jade Hill is the younger sister of WNBA player and former Ohio State standout Tayler Hill.
Freshman forward Jordyn Lamker is the daughter of Tommie All-America WBB player Amy Bot and daughter of Augsburg University head football coach Darrin Lamker.
Transfer forward Maggie Negaard is the younger sister of former St. Thomas swimmer Tom Negaard, a nine-time conference champion in relays and individual races here from 2015-19. Their grandfather Jack played basketball at Drake (1949-50).
Tommie Players
#4 Jade Hill: 5-6, Fr., G...2021-22: Started all 27 games and averages a league-high 36.0 minutes per game...averages 13.7 points per game and 3.1 assists per game.
#12 Jordyn Glynn: 5-9, Jr., G…2021-22: Appeared in 23 games with 17 starts...averages 2.9 points and 4.3 rebounds through 23 games...D-III: Played in 23 games and scored 33 points.
#13 Gabby Johnson: 5-8, Fr., G...2021-22: Played in 20 games...contributed 19 points and 19 rebounds.
#14 Jordyn Lamker: 6-0, Fr., F...2021-22: Appeared in 21 games for the Purple...scored 25 points and hauled in 31 rebounds.
#15 Phoebe Frentzel: 5-9, Fr., G...2021-22: Played 21 games for St. Thomas...contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds.
#20 Sammy Opichka: 6-0, Fr., F...2021-22: Played in 15 games this season with one start...made Collegiate debut against Northland...scored 45 points, recorded 29 rebounds and five steals on the season.
#22 Erin Norling: 5-11, Grad Student, F...2021-22: Started all 27 games...averages 13.6 points per game...connecting on 43 percent (143-of-334) of her shots from the field and 35 percent (54-of-154) of her shots from behind the arc...scored a career-high 34 points against NDSU...Previously: Wayne State University… played four years at D-II Wayne State; recorded 1,597 career points, scored in double figures in 84 games, 4X all-conference, and twice voted onto the elite CoSIDA Academic All-America team… in 2020-21 was voted Northern Sun Conference South Division Player of the Year... led team in scoring (16.3) and rebounding (6.8), ranking fourth in the NSIC in scoring and eighth in rebounding.
#23 Maggie Negaard: 5-10, Sr., G...2021-22: Started 23-of-26 games played for the Purple...averages 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per game...Previously: Drake University…played in 78 games at Drake.
#24 Abby Mackenthun: 5-11, Jr., F…2021-22: Played 13 games...averages 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds per game, while playing 2.8 minutes per game...D-III: played in 34 games and has recorded 156 points, 48 assists, 166 rebounds.
#25 Katelyn Stanley: 5-8, So., G…2021-22: Played in 16 games for St. Thomas. this season..contributed 14 points and 24 rebounds on the season...D-III: Started in all seven games as a freshman; scored 58 points, 21 assists, and secured 43 rebounds; shot 89 percent from the foul line and hit 10 3-pointers... career highs include 14 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals.
#32 Kaia Porter: 5-11, Grad Student, G/F…2021-22: Has played in all 27 games with 14 starts...averages 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game...D-III: in 71 games over parts of four seasons in D-III she had 716 points, 278 rebounds and 147 assists; started as a sophomore on Tommies' 30-2 Final Four team...career highs include 23 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals.
#33 Brynn Schwanz: 6-0, So., F…2021-22: Appeared in 10 games...has recorded two rebounds and one steal...D-III: Missed 2020-21 season with an injury.
#34 Jo Langbehn: 6-2, Fr., C...2021-22: Played 26 games for St. Thomas with six starts...averages 5.6 points and 3.7 rebounds per game...posted two double-doubles on the season.
#35 Kate Burns: 6-2, So., C…2021-22: Started 20-of-26 games this season...averges 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game...D-III: Played in five of team's seven games, scored 30 points.
#50 Audrey Hatfield: 6-2, Fr., C...2021-22: Played in seven games...made collegiate debut against Northland...scored 11 points and recorded seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal on the season.
Unprecedented Move
St. Thomas is the first NCAA institution to move all of its athletics teams directly from Division III to D-I in one season.
Tommie teams have begun competing in four conferences across all 21 sports, with 31 different universities as
fellow conference mates:
• The Summit League (18 sports);
• Pioneer Football League;
• Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) for women's hockey;
• Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) for men's hockey.
Division III Era and Tradition
• 1 NCAA championship (1991)
• 7 NCAA Final Fours (three in eight-year span from 2012-2019)
• 32 postseason appearances in last 33 full seasons
• 27 MIAC championships (18 regular-season)
• 30-win seasons four times in nine years (2012-2020)
• 26 NCAA playoff appearances (55 wins)
• 22 All-America honors since 1980
• 77-game conference win streak ended in Dec. 2019
• 5 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans
• 9 of the last 21 MIAC Player of the Year honors
• 5 of the 13 MIAC Coach of the Year honors
• Kaitlin Langer 2017 National Player of the Year
