University of St. Thomas Athletics
North Dakota
Tommies host Fighting Hawks to open conference play
12/28/2023 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
St. Thomas defeated North Dakota 74-68 in season finale last year
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The wait is over. After two months of nonconference play, the University of St. Thomas women's basketball officially opens Summit League play on Friday, December 29. The Tommies first conference opponent will be none other than the University of North Dakota and tip off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Schoenecker Arena.
St. Thomas will kick off its Summit League schedule against North Dakota for the second consecutive season, having opened conference play against the Fighting Hawks last season as well. Through four meetings, North Dakota holds a 3-1 advantage over the Tommies, with a 2-0 record in the Betty Englestad Sioux Center and a 1-1 record in Schoenecker. However, this promises to be an exciting rematch, as St. Thomas defeated the Fighting Hawks at home in the last meeting between the two teams. The Tommies used a furious fourth quarter rally to upend North Dakota 74-68 in the final game of the regular season.
Tip off between St. Thomas and the Fighting Hawks is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tickets are still available for purchase online at www.tommiesports.com/tickets, and fans who cannot attend the game in person can follow along on the Summit League Network. The home of all Summit League action, the Summit League Network is a subscription-based platform with costs $9.99 per most or $79.99 for an annual plan. The fee provides fans and alumni with the opportunity to watch St. Thomas from a variety of devices through the Midco Sports Plus app, including phones, tablets, TVs, and web-based browser interference. Additionally, the app and its exclusive Summit League content will be available on AppleTV, Fire TV and Roku, allowing fans to sign in and watch through their account on multiple devices. Fans can subscribe at www.midcosportsplus.com.
Tommie Tidbits:
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas closed the first half of its 2023-24 schedule in style, as the Tommies earned a resounding 82-49 win over UW-Stevens Point on December 16. It was one of St. Thomas' best defensive efforts of 2023-24, as they held the Pionters to just 29 points through the first three quarters of play, which included holding UW-Stevens Point to under 10 points in both the second and third quarters. The Tommies, meanwhile, scored 20+ points in three of four quarters with Jo Langbehn leading the charge offensively. The junior tallied her second "perfect game" of the 2023-24 season, shooting 6-6 from the floor to score 19 points in 22 minutes of play. Sammy Opichka and Faith Feuerbach both scored 10 points for St. Thomas, rounding out the team's double-digit scoring efforts.
TUNE IN: Basketball fans can follow the Tommies on their new streaming home, the Summit League Network, fueled by Midco Sports and the Midco Sports Plus App. The subscription-based service will provide a digital streaming platform for regular season home St. Thomas basketball games along with exclusive Tommie and Summit League content. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. Fans can also follow Live Stats on TommieSports.com.
THE OPPOSITION: The Tommies first Summit League opponent is none other than North Dakota, which is not off to the best start in 2023-24. After posting a 19-13 record in 2022-23, the Fighting Hawks were looking to continue their upward trajectory in the Summit League standings. So far, North Dakota has struggled this season and enters Friday's contest with an overall record of 3-8 despite having the League's leading scorer on its roster. Fifth year Kaci Borowicz is averaging 20.1 points per game in 2023-24, though she did miss three games for the Fighting Hawks in late November/early December. Despite Borowicz' absence, North Dakota went 2-1 in that stretch and outscored its opponents 201-176.
CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?: The Fighting Hawks may own the all-time series by a 1-3 record, but it was all Tommies in the last meeting between the two programs. In a thriller at Schoenecker Arena, St. Thomas used a dominant fourth quarter to secure the 74-68 victory over North Dakota, with current fifth year senior Jordyn Glynn playing a significant role in the double-digit comeback victory. After three quarters of play, the Tommies trailed the Fighting Hawks 54-49 after trailing 43-33 midway through the third quarter. However, the St. Thomas defense held North Dakota to 2-11 shooting in the final 10 minutes of regulation, helping the Tommies outscore their opponents 25-14 in the final frame to secure the victory.
LOW SCORING AFFAIR: Games between St. Thomas and North Dakota have not exactly been high scoring affairs. The Tommies have averaged by 61.5 points per game against the Fighting Hawks, scoring 246 total points in four games. North Dakota's offense has not fared much better. The Fighting Hawks have never scored more than 74 points against the St. Thomas defense and have averaged just 69.5 points in four games
BEGIN THE SUMMIT: The Tommies are 0-2 all-time in their Summit League opener, which includes the 2022-23 conference opening loss at North Dakota. St. Thomas fell to the Fighting Hawks by a final score of 70-56 and did not fare much better in its home conference opener against South Dakota 10 days later. The Tommies looked to rebound with a home victory over the Coyotes, but a last second shot secured victory for South Dakota, as St. Thomas fell by a final score of 58-56.
800/100 CLUB: Junior guard Jade Hill has made a name for herself in just three seasons with St. Thomas. During the team's trip to California, Hill joined the 800/100 club, becoming the first Tommie student-athlete in the DI era to score 800 points and tally 100 steals with St. Thomas. Entering Wednesday's game against the Badgers, Hill owns 887 career points, averaging 12.7 per game throughout her Tommie career, and now has 117 steals. She additionally looks to eclipse the 300 career assists milestone this season with 255 total to her name.
COUNTDOWN TO 400: Head coach Ruth Sinn won her 380th game as St. Thomas' head coach against Purdue Fort Wayne in early December, bringing her closer to the 400 career wins mark. Already the winningest coach in program history, Sinn surpassed Ted Riverso's previous record of 337 career wins in 2019-20 and looked to become the first coach in Tommie women's basketball history to win 400 games with the program. Additionally, Sinn would join former St. Thomas men's basketball coach and athletic director Steve Fritz, current volleyball coach Thanh Pham, former baseball coach Dennis Denning and former softball coach John Tschida as the only head coaches in St. Thomas history with over 400 wins with their respective programs.
COMMON OPPONENT: St. Thomas and North Dakota played one common opponent in nonconference play this season: Drake. The Tommies opened their 2023-24 campaign in Des Moines, Iowa, falling to the Bulldogs by a final score of 94-69. The Fighting Hawks played Drake much more recently, on December 21 in fact. Much like St. Thomas, though, North Dakota was unable to upend Drake, even on the Fighting Hawks own court, falling to the Bulldogs by a final score of 108-60.
FEELING HOT HOT HOT: Junior forward Jo Langbehn was on fire during the month of the December. Her .739 field goal percentage currently ranks second in all of Division I, having converted 65 of 88 field goals this season. Langbehn additionally is one of just four women's basketball players in the nation with a shooting percentage over 70 this season and is the only player from a Mid Major to rank in the top five.
BASKET BATTLE: Friday's contest between St. Thomas and North Dakota will feature two of the top scorers in the Summit League this season: the Tommies Amber Scalia and the Fighting Hawks Kaci Borowicz. Both players are averaging well over 15.0 points per game this season, with Scalia averaging 16.2 through the first two months of the season. The sophomore guard has scored at least 10 points in 11 of St. Thomas' 12 games this season and scored 20+ points in three. Borowicz has scored over 15 points in seven of eight games she's appeared in this season and has just one sub-10 point performances in 2023-24.
HOLIDAY HIGH: Christmas came early for the Tommies in their last outing, as they set season highs in rebounds, free throws made, assists, steals and blocks in their win over UW-Stevens Point. St. Thomas is looking to keep the good times rolling against North Dakota on Friday, which has been a bit of a struggle for the team. Since the team put together a three-game win streak in early November, the Tommies have struggled to win back-to-back games at Schoenecker Arena this year, a rare occurrence for a team that is dominant at home in the Ruth Sinn era. So far this season, St. Thomas is 3-2 at Schoenecker Arena and looking for its first home win over a DI opponent since beating Utah Valley on November 18.
SHOOT 'EM: There is one commonalty in all of the Tommies wins this season: a high shooting percentage. St. Thomas is 6-3 when shooting .400+ in games this season and 2-1 in games with a .500+ field goal percentage. The Tommies are also undefeated when holding their opponents to a sub .400 FPG, earning wins over UW-River Falls, Utah Valley, Saint Mary's (Calif.) and UW-Stevens Point this season.
