University of St. Thomas Athletics
5-5,0-0Summit League
Purdue Fort Wayne
7-3,2-0Horizon
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All around effort leads Tommies to victory over PFW
12/9/2023 5:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FORT WAYNE, IND. – The eight hour bus ride may pass a little faster for the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. The Tommies earned, perhaps, their best win of the 2023-24 season, as they upended Purdue Fort Wayne 64-59 in their final road game of 2023. After leading for most of the game, St. Thomas overcame an early third quarter slump and used a 10-2 run in the final three minutes to defeat the Mastodons. The win, which is the second straight for the Tommies, helps St. Thomas improve to 5-5 on the season as the team prepared to host the Big10's Wisconsin on Wednesday.
RECAP:
The Tommies well rounded play followed them to Indiana, as they demonstrated outstanding play on both ends of the court in the first quarter. Leading scorers Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater), Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) and Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) all scored baskets in the opening 10 minutes of play, cruising out to a 10-6 lead five minutes in. However, consistency proved to be a struggle for St. Thomas. As the Tommies went cold, the Mastodons got hot, as they went on a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the ball game at 11-10. Still, St. Thomas hung tough, using baskets from Angelina Hammond (Hopkins, Minn. / Hopkins) and Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Green Bay) to regain a 16-15 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Tommies only got better in the second quarter, as they were blisteringly hot on offense. Despite not making a single three, St. Thomas was able to extend its first quarter lead thanks to a stingy defense and timely offense. The Tommies held Purdue Fort Wayne to just six points in the second quarter, marking the first time all season a St. Thomas opponent scored single digit points in a quarter. It also helped that the Tommies offense scored 17 points in the quarter as well, allowing St. Thomas to walk into the locker room holding a 33-21 halftime lead.
The tides turned drastically in the third quarter, as the Mastodons switched things up defensively and caused all kinds of havoc for the Tommies. After an outstanding second quarter, St. Thomas was held to just 12 points in the third, while Purdue Fort Wayne broke out for a 23 point quarter to cut the Tommies lead to 45-44. The Mastodons continued to perform well at the start of the fourth, as they took their first lead in over 25 minutes on a three-pointer to open the quarter.
St. Thomas was unable to respond, as Purdue Fort Wayne opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to gain a 51-45 lead over the Tommies. It was St. Thomas' turn to be tenacious, as the team went to work whittling away at the Mastodons lead. Hill connected on the first three of the game, cutting the lead to 51-48 before a beautiful tick-tack-toe passing play set up Langbehn under the basket to make it 51-50 with over five minutes to go in regulation. Despite St. Thomas' best attempts, though, the team couldn't quite catch Purdue Fort Wayne, and the Mastodons looked as though they were ready to slam the door on the visiting Tommies. With 2:44 remaining in regulation, Purdue Fort Wayne went up 57-54 and looked like a team fully in control.
St. Thomas took that control away decisively, as Scalia connected for her first three of the game, tying things up at 57-57. Jordyn Glynn (Grand Meadow, Minn. / Grand Meadow) then gave St. Thomas its first true lead of the fourth quarter, as her back-to-back baskets secured a 61-57 advantage for the Tommies. That was all the team needed to secure victory, though St. Thomas added a little insurance in the closing seconds. Scalia and Langbehn went 3-4 from the charity stripe, securing the 64-59 victory for the Tommies.
TOP TOMMIES
- Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) overcame early shooting struggles in the first half to lead St. Thomas with a 16 point effort Saturday afternoon. She also would go 5-5 from the free throw line and add four rebounds and one assist to her stat line.
- Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) made a little history Saturday afternoon, becoming the first player in the DI era to post a perfect field goal percentage from the floor (while shooting at least five shots). Langbhen scored 13 points on 6-6 shooting and also recorded two assists and a steal.
- Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) closed her night with 12 points, five assists and four steals for the Tommies, while Angelina Hammond (Hopkins, Minn. / Hopkins) and Jordyn Glynn (Grand Meadow, Minn. / Grand Meadow) continued to lead the team's defensive efforts. Glynn led the team with eight rebounds on Saturday, while Hammond closed with five rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks for St. Thomas.
UP NEXT
It's a "BIG" week for the Tommies, as they are set to host Wisconsin in their first home game in 10 days. Tip off against the Badgers is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
