University of St. Thomas Athletics
1-1,0-0Summit League
UW-River Falls
0-1,0-0WIAC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UW-River Falls | 23 | 16 | 12 | 11 | 62 |
| St. Thomas (MN) | 30 | 17 | 24 | 30 | 101 |
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Tommies scorch Falcons in 101-62 win
11/11/2023 7:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball
St. Thomas scores over 100 points for first time in DI era
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Things were cooking in Schoenecker Arena Saturday afternoon, and the cooks in question was the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. The Tommies were firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon, as they scored over 100 points for the first time in the DI era in a 101-62 win over the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. St. Thomas shot .565 from the floor as a team, improving to 1-1 in the season and earning its first win in Schoenecker Arena in 2023-24. Additionally, the Tommies saw the first 20+ point performances of the year, as Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) and Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) both scored over 20 points in the victory.
RECAP:
To say St. Thomas was on fire to open the game would be a gross understatement. The Tommies opened the game with a 10-0 run, using baskets from Hill Faith Feuerbach (Sycamore, Ill. / Sycamore) and Scalia to jump out to a double-digit lead. However, UW-River Falls made thins difficult for St. Thomas, both on offense and defense. The Falcons simply refused to go to bed quietly, whittling the Tommies lead to 10-6 by the 6:00 mark. Even when it looked like St. Thomas was pulling away for good, courtesy of a three-pointer by Lizzie Steingraber (New London, Wis. / New London), UW-River Falls hung around and cut the Tommies lead to 30-23 by the end of the first quarter.
The second was a low scoring affair, but St. Thomas still could not put the Falcons away. It seemed like UW-River Falls had an answer for every basket the Tommies scored, making it a five point game seconds into the quarter. Even when St. Thomas jumped out to a 47-31 lead, the Falcons used the final four minutes to cut the Tommies lead back down to single digits. In fact, UW-River Falls closed the first half on an 8-0 run, though St. Thomas still held a 47-39 lead entering the locker room at the half. To make matters seemingly worse, the Falcons success carried over to the third quarter, as they outscored the Tommies 12-2 over a six minute stretch to make it 49-44 by the 7:57 mark.
Still, head coach Ruth Sinn didn't panic. She merely let her players settle into the game. Layups by Hill and Phoebe Frentzel (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) lit a fire under St. Thomas, and it wasn't long before the team was dominating, both offensively and defensively. Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) also got in on the scoring frenzy, and before you knew it, the Tommies extended their lead to 61-46 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
From that moment on, UW-River Falls had no hope of catching St. Thomas. Baskets by Scalia and Zoey Washington (Mahtomedi, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) pushed the Tommies over the 70 point mark for the first time all season, and Hill converted a layup in the closing seconds of the quarter to make it 71-51 St. Thomas entering the fourth. By then, the damage was done. St. Thomas played stifling defense in the final 10 minutes of play, holding the Falcons to 11 points on .231 shooting, and five of those points were scored from the charity stripe. Washington also continued to be a scoring machine, as he career-high 15 points helped the Tommies clinch a 101-62 victory and its first 100+ point scoring performance in the DI era.
TOP TOMMIES
- Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) and Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) both scored over 20 points for St. Thomas Saturday afternoon and shot .500 or better from the floor. Hill lead the way with a season-high 26 points on 9-18 shooting, including a 7-7 clip from the free throw line, while Scalia scored a career-high 24 points on 9-16 shooting in the victory.
- Zoey Washington (Mahtomedi, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) impressed in her Schoenecker Arena debut, scoring 15 points on 6-7 shooting, including a 3-4 clip from beyond the arc. Phoebe Frentzel (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) also added a career-high 10 points in the win.
- Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) led the team with 10 rebounds in the win, while Frentzel led with five assists.
NOTABLES
The Tommies scored 100+ points for the first time in the Division I era Saturday afternoon and for the first time since December 2015. St. Thomas upended Carleton 100-28 on December 5, 2015, which, according to available records, was the largest margin of victory for the Tommies until the 2021-22 season. St. Thomas defeated Northland College 92-19 in mid-December that season, earning a 73-point win in its first Division I season.
QUOTABLES
Hear from head coach Ruth Sinn and guards Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) and Zoey Washington (Mahtomedi, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) after Saturday's monster win:
UP NEXT
The Tommies will enjoy an unexpected long week, as they are not set to play again until Saturday, November 18. St. Thomas will host Chicago State in its second home game of 2023-24. Tip off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
