Women’s Basketball to wrap up regular season at home against NDSU and UND

St. Paul, Minn. -- St. Thomas Women's Basketball wraps up its regular season with its final two games, beginning Feb. 23 against North Dakota State and Feb. 25 against North Dakota presented by Twin Cities Orthopedics. The Tommies and Bison open the final Summit League series at 7 p.m. on Thursday followed by the the Tommies and Fighting Hawks at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Recapping the Western Illinois Game
St. Thomas Women's Basketball defeated Western Illinois 71-57 with the help of 20-point performances from sophomore Jade Hill and senior Maggie Negaard.

The Tommies started strong, taking a 20-7 lead in the first quarter and went on to win the rebound margin 40-24, securing their third straight win. The team shot 52.7 percent from the field, topping the previous week's conference-season high of 52.3 percent, and made 11 3-pointers, which is the first instance of double figures since Jan. 14 when they played Oral Roberts.

Hill scored 14 points in the first half and Negaard added 12 in the second half to help the team clinch the win. Hill's first three-pointer gave St. Thomas a 7-5 lead, and the team scored 16 of the next 18 points, with seven coming from Hill. Negaard started the second half with a 3-pointer, and the Tommies went on to close the third quarter with a game-high 22-point lead, 62-40.

The team's solid performance extended its winning streak to three games, tying its longest streak since joining NCAA Division I.

Scouting North Dakota State
North Dakota State is 16-10 overall and 10-6 in the Summit League after back-to-back wins against Kansas City on Feb. 16 and Oral Roberts on Feb. 18 in Fargo, N.D. The Bison began the weekend with an 86-75 victory over the Roos before a 103-86 win over the Golden Eagles.

Heaven Hamling leads NDSU and is fourth in the Summuit League with 16.4 points per game while Elle Evans follows and its ninth in the conference with 13.1 points. Hamling is seventh in the league shooting 40.3 percent from the field, second shooting 85.9 percent from the free throw line, second shooting 34.8 percent from 3-point range, and second with 2.5 3-point field goals per game. She is also second with a 1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio and with 22 steals per game.

The Bison average 72.2 points per game and allow 69.5 points, which rank fourth and fifth in the Summit League, respectively. NDSU ranks third in the conference shooting 42.4 percent from the field and 32.2 percent from 3-point range, and is second with 12.7 offensive rebounds per game and a 2.9 rebound margin.

Series History vs. North Dakota State
St. Thomas and North Dakota State have met four times in the series, initially meeting Jan. 26, 1980, an 86-61 win by NDSU at the Mankato State Invitational in Mankato, Minn. The Bison lead the all-time series, 3-1.

The Bison won the first meeting of the 2022-23 season series, 74-56, on Wednesday, Dec. 21 in Fargo, N.D.

Sammy Opichka was the only Tommie to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. She also led St. Thomas with four rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.

Scouting North Dakota
North Dakota is 17-9 overall and 10-6 in the Summit League after taking wins over Oral Roberts on Feb. 16 and Kansas City on Feb. 18 in Grand Forks, N.D. The Fighting Hawks took a 108-100 win over the Golden Eagles on Thursday before a 61-39 win over Kansas City on Saturday, extending its winning streak to five games.

Kacie Borowicz is second in the Summit League and 23rd in the nation with 19.7 points per game on 40.6 percent shooting from the field. She leads the conference and is 37th in the country with 4.9 assists per game. Claire Orth is second on UND with 11.2 points per game while Juliet Gordon leads the team and is 12th in the Summit with 6.0 rebounds per game.

The Fighting Hawks average 73.9 points per game and allow 68.4 points, which both rank third in the Summit League. UND leads the conference limiting opponents to 30.3 percent shooting from 3-point range and with a 3.62 turnover margin.

Series History vs. North Dakota
St. Thomas and North Dakota have played four times, first playing Dec. 20, 1980 in a 76-64 win by UND in Grand Forks, N.D. The Fighting Hawks lead the all-time series, 4-0.

The Fighting Hawks won the first meeting of the 2022-23 series, 70-56, in Grand Forks, N.D., during the Summit League schedule opener.

Jo Langbehn was the only Tommie to score in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Jordyn Lamker led St. Thomas with six rebounds while Jade Hill recorded five rebounds and a team-high three assists.

A First at the Peak
Jo Langbehn was named the TicketSmarter Summit League Peak Performer of the Week following her career-best performance against Oral Roberts on Feb. 9 and Kansas City on Feb. 11. The weekly honor is the first ever for the St. Thomas Women's Basketball program.

The Elk River, Minn., native set a career high in scoring, averaged 24.0 points per game, and shot 74.1 percent from the field as the Tommies earned their first road weekend sweep in the NCAA Division I era. The wins also solidified the first two season sweeps for St. Thomas since joining NCAA DI.

Langbehn opened the weekend with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting to go along with five rebounds and one assist. She followed up with a career high 29 points, topping her previous high of 21, on 12-of-16 shooting. Langbehn's 29 points were the most for a Tommie in a single game since Erin Norling scored 34 points Jan. 13, 2022 against North Dakota State.

Negaard's Career Streak
Senior Maggie Negaard entered the season with a single-game career high of 15 points and has since topped that mark in nine games, including seven of the last 12. She set a career-high with 18 points Dec. 8 against Purdue-Fort Wayne before scoring 19 on Jan. 7 at Omaha, 24 on Jan. 12 against Kansas City, and 28 on Jan. 21 against Western Illinois. She added another 19-point performance during the win over Oral Roberts and 20 points in the win at Western Illinois.

Through Jan. 28, Negaard joined North Dakota's Kacie Borowicz (seven-game streak) and Kansas City's E'Lease Stafford (six-game streak) as the only Summit League players to score at least 17 points through at least five consecutive games at any point this season.

Negaard is 15th in the country and leads the Summit League shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range. She also leads the Tommies and is 12th in the league with 12.5 points per game. Negaard has made at least three 3-pointers in eight of the last 14 games, including a career-high six Jan. 21 against Western Illinois.

Running Point
Sophomore Jade Hill scored in double digits during eight of the first nine games this season and led the Tommies in scoring three times. She scored a season-high 24 points during the Nov. 19 win over Presbyterian and set a season-high seven assists Dec. 8 versus Purdue Fort Wayne. Hill scored 16 points Jan. 7 at Omaha to snap a six-game streak failing to reach double digits. Previous to that streak, she had never recorded back-to-back single digit scoring games in her Tommie career. Hill is averaging 13.6 points per game over the last 10 outings, scoring 16 points Jan. 7 at Omaha, 15 Jan. 14 against Oral Roberts, 13 Jan. 21 against Western Illinois, 17 on Jan. 26 at South Dakota State, 17 on Feb. 11 at Kansas City, and 21 on Feb. 18 at Western Illinois.

Hill is third in the Summit League with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio, tied for fourth with 1.8 steals, fifth with 4.2 assists, and is tied for 14th with 11.7 points per game.

Go Hard in the Paint
Sophomore Jo Langbehn recorded a previous career-high 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds Sunday, Dec. 11 at Wisconsin to mark her fourth career double-double. She sank 9-of-13 from the field while five of her rebounds came on the offensive end. Langbehn was two rebounds shy of her career high, set twice in 2021-22. She followed up the next game with 20 points against Chicago State and set her current career high of 29 points Feb. 11 in a win at Kansas City.

After entering the 2022-23 season with a single-game career-high of 12 points, Langbehn has topped that mark seven times, including four of the last nine games. She is averaging 13.0 points per game over her last 11 outings.

Sammy 2-O
Sophomore Sammy Opichka went off for a career-high 20 points Nov. 15 at Illinois State before topping it with 25 points Dec. 8 versus Purdue Fort Wayne. She was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, 2-of-2 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line against ISU. She also recorded career highs of 12 rebounds and three steals against PFW, marking the first double-double of her career and the first for St. Thomas since the 2021-22 season finale.

This is the first instance of a Tommie recording at least 25 points and 12 rebounds in a game since Brynne Rolland recorded 30 points and 13 rebounds Jan. 22, 2020 against Bethel. It's also the first time a Tommie went at least 6-of-6 from the field since Langbehn went 6-of-6 against Oral Roberts on Feb. 5, 2022.

Opichka's two 20-point games this season match her entire scoring output from the 2021-22 season. She totaled 45 points as a freshman and is fourth on the team with 8.8 points.

Behind the Arc
After going the first 14 games without allowing an opponent to shoot over 36.8 percent from 3-point range, the Tommies allowed seven opponents over an eight-game stretch to shoot at least 36.8 percent. Denver sank 13 3-pointers on Jan. 5, the most St. Thomas has allowed since Northern Iowa put in 16 on Dec. 1, 2021.

The Tommies have held three of its last four opponents to just two 3-pointers each, as they've all shot 18.2 percent or worse from 3-point range.

Bad Luck Overtimes
St. Thomas played in its third overtime game of the season Jan. 7 at Omaha, the first season with three overtime games for the program since the 2009-10 season. The Tommies went 2-1 in those games and has lost in all three such games this season. St. Thomas' overtime losses came Nov. 27 at UIC, 75-71, Dec. 3 at Idaho State, 58-54, and Jan. 7 at Omaha, 80-77.

Chase for the Summit
With two games left before the Summit League Championships, St. Thomas is jockeying for seeding position and currently rank eighth in the league.

The opening round of the Summit League Championship on Friday, March 3 will feature games involving the No. 7 vs. No. 10 seeds and No. 8 vs. No. 9 seeds at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center. The winners of those respective games will take on the top two seeds Saturday in quarterfinal action.

A Day for the Seniors
St. Thomas will recognize its three seniors, Jordyn Glynn, Autam Mendez and Maggie Negaard, on Saturday against North Dakota. The trio will be recognized with a pre-game ceremony.

Glynn has played four seasons with the Tommies and is the lone holdover from the NCAA Division III era. Mendez is in her first season with St. Thomas as a graduate student after playing the previous two seasons at San Diego State. Negaard is wrapping up her second season with the Purple after previously playing three seasons at Drake.

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Women’s Basketball to wrap up regular season at home against NDSU and UND

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Players Mentioned

Jordyn Glynn

Jade Hill

Jordyn Lamker

Jo Langbehn

Autam Mendez

Maggie Negaard

Erin Norling

Sammy Opichka

University of St. Thomas Athletics