University of St. Thomas Athletics
Oral Roberts
Game Notes - Women’s Basketball faces Oral Roberts in the final game of a three-game home stand
2/4/2022 1:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball
St. Paul, Minn. - St. Thomas Women's Basketball (6-14, 3-7) completes its three-game home stand as they host Oral Roberts (11-11, 6-5) at Schoenecker Arena Saturday.
The Tommies are looking to return to their winning ways and improve on their 3-7 conference record. St. Thomas hosts the Golden Eagles in their third of three-straight home games.
The Purple's most recent game against Kansas City saw 33 points from the tandem of freshman G Jade Hill (20) and grad student F Erin Norling (11). With 2:35 to play in the fourth quarter, KC opened up its largest lead of the second half, 58-53. With 22.4 seconds to play, a driving layup from Hill brought the game to 58-57, but the Tommies couldn't get over the hump as they fell by a score of 62-57.
As a team, the Tommies are averaging 58.7 points per game and 35 rebounds per game.
Individually, grad student F Erin Norling is leading the team with 13.8 points per game. Norling is connecting on 45 percent of her shots from the field and 38 percent of her shots from behind the arc. Freshman G Jade Hill is averaging 13.1 points per game through her first 20 collegiate contests. Hill also leads St. Thomas with 61 assists on the season.
Gettin' to know the Golden Eagles
Kansas City most recently defeated Western Illinois 71-55 in a game played in Macomb, Ill.
The Golden Eagles made changes to their starting lineup, giving Nena Taylor her first career start for the gold and blue. Kicking off a Summit League swing, the Oral Roberts women's basketball team notched a convincing 16-point road win over Western Illinois, 71-55. Tirzah Moore, Katie Scott, and Keni Jo Lippe each finished with at least 13 points in the Golden Eagle victory.
As a team, Oral Roberts is averaging 65.6 points per game and allowing 62.7 points per game. The Golden Eagles are shooting 39 percent from the field and 29 percent from behind the arc. Oral Roberts is out rebounding its opponents on the season, on average pulling down 38.9 rebounds per game compared to 36.4 by its opponents.
Individually, Tirzah Moore is the lone Golden Eagle to average double-digit points per game with 13.5 points, she also leads Oral Roberts' rebounding efforts, averaging 5.9 per outing.
Recapping the Roos
The St. Thomas Women's Basketball Team (6-14, 3-7) trailed by one point, 58-57, with 22.4 seconds to play but couldn't come up with a bucket to put them over the top as they fell to Kansas City (17-5, 74) by a score of 62-57 Thursday evening.
Freshman G Jade Hill poured in 22 points and the Tommies shot 49 percent from the field, but they came up just short of Kansas city.
After trailing 5-2 with just over one minute played, the Tommies went on a 13-5 run to end the first quarter to take a 15-10 lead after one quarter of play. Four different Tommies made their way into the scoring column in the opening frame, led by Hill who posted five points in the opening quarter.
The Purple opened up a 10-point lead, 25-15 with 4:33 to play in the opening half on Hill's 11th point of the night. The Roos went on a 13-9 run to end the half, but the Tommies took a 34-28 lead into intermission.
In the first half, St. Thomas connected on 56 percent (15-of-27) of its shots from the field and 43 percent (3-of-7) from behind the arc. The Tommies pulled down 19 first-half rebounds compared to 15 by the Roos.
Hill led the first-half scoring efforts with 13 points, while connecting on 6-of-8 (75 percent) of her shots from the field. Grad student F Erin Norling contributed 8 first-half points and senior G Maggie Negaard hauled in five rebounds in the first 20 minutes of the game.
With just under three minutes to play in the third quarter, junior G Jordan Glynn pushed the Tommie lead to 9 points, 47-38 with an old-fashioned three-point play. The Roos ended the quarter on an 8-4 run to trim the Purple lead to 51-46 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Roos opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 lead to open up a 52-51 lead with 7:30 remaining in the contest. With 2:35 to play in the fourth quarter, KC opened up its largest lead of the second half, 58-53. With 22.4 seconds to play, a driving layup from Hill brought the game to 58-57, but the Tommies couldn't get over the hump as they fell by a score of 62-57.
As a team, St. Thomas connected on 49 percent (24-of-49) of its shots from the field and 33 percent (4-of-12) from behind the arc.
Individually, Hill led the way with 22 points on a 10-of-15 shooting effort from the field. Norling added 11 points and freshman F Jo Langbehn pulled in a team-high six rebounds.
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, 35.2 per game
5th - Free-Throw Percentage - J. Hill, .789
5th - 3-point field goals made - E. Norling, 2.1 per game
7th - Scoring - E. Norling, 13.7 per game
7th - Assists - J. Hill, 3.0 per game
Tommie Leader
Head coach Ruth Sinn is in her 17th season at St. Thomas in 2021-22. Her overall record of 362-102, including a mark of 356-89 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.
Super-Senior Leadership
Grad Student F Kaia Porter ranks third on the team in scoring, averaging 6.9 points per game. Porter is an efficient three-point shooter connecting on 25-of-79 attempts (32 percent) of her shots on the season from behind the arc. Porter also averages 4.1 rebounds per game and has dished out 31 assists through 19 games this season.
Grad Student F Erin Norling transferred from Wayne State to join the Tommies in their inaugural D-I season. She leads St. Thomas 13.8 points per game. Norling is connecting on 45 percent (109-of-245) of her shots from the field and 38 percent (41-of-109) 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 (5-15)
Illinois State (11-9)
South Carolina State (3-16)
Presbyterian (8-10)
Cal Poly (1-13)
North Texas (8-9)
Northern Iowa (12-6)
Chicago State (3-14)
Idaho State (13-7)
Omaha (6-15)
Denver (7-16)
Western Illinois (12-9)
Oral Roberts (11-11)
Kansas City (17-5)
North Dakota State (9-13)
North Dakota (13-10)
South Dakota State (14-8)
South Dakota (18-4)
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 20 games and averages a league-high 35.3 minutes per game...averages 13.1 points per game and 3.1 assists per game.
#12 Jordyn Glynn: 5-9, Jr., G…2021-22: Appeared in 20 games with 16 starts...averages 3.1 points and 4.3 rebounds through 20 games...D-III: Played in 23 games and scored 33 points.
#13 Gabby Johnson: 5-8, Fr., G...2021-22: Played in 14 games...contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds.
#14 Jordyn Lamker: 6-0, Fr., F...2021-22: Appeared in 15 games for the Purple...scored 20 points and hauled in 24 rebounds.
#15 Phoebe Frentzel: 5-9, Fr., G...2021-22: Played 17 games for St. Thomas...contributed 22 points and 11 rebounds.
#20 Sammy Opichka: 6-0, Fr., F...2021-22: Played in eight games this season...made Collegiate debut against Northland...scored 28 points, recorded 17 rebounds and five steals on the season.
#22 Erin Norling: 5-11, Grad Student, F...2021-22: Started all 20 games...averages a team-best 13.8 points per game...connecting on 45 percent (109-of-245) of her shots from the field and 38 percent (41-of-109) 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 17-of-19 games played for the Purple...averages 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game...Previously: Drake University…played in 78 games at Drake.
#24 Abby Mackenthun: 5-11, Jr., F…2021-22: Played 10 games...averages 1.6 points and 1.3 rebounds per game, while playing 3.1 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 10 games for St. Thomas. this season..contributed 10 points and 18 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 20 games with eight starts...averages 6.9 points and 4.1 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 seven 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 19 games for St. Thomas...averages 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.
#35 Kate Burns: 6-2, So., C…2021-22: Started all 19 games she's played...averges 5.3 points and 2.8 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 four games...made collegiate debut against Northland...scored eight points and recorded four 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
