University of St. Thomas Athletics
Thursday, February 9
Tulsa, Okla.
7:00 p.m. Central
at
Oral Roberts
Photo by: Collin Boyles
Women’s Basketball begins three-game road swing Feb. 9-11 at ORU and UMKC
2/8/2023 9:30:00 AM | Women's Basketball
St. Paul, Minn. -- The St. Thomas Women's Basketball team is set to hit the road for a three-game trip, starting with a pivotal weekend Feb. 9-11 at Oral Roberts and Kansas City. The Tommies begin its final road trip Thursday at 7 p.m. against the Golden Eagles in Tulsa, Okla., before a Saturday tip-off at 1 p.m. against the Roos in Kansas City.
Recapping the Omaha Game
The St. Thomas Women's Basketball team fell to Omaha in a 58-54 loss on Thursday. Maggie Negaard led the Tommies with a game-high 20 points, making it the third time she hit the 20-point mark over the last six games. The Tommies trailed the Mavericks 5-2 in the early minutes of the game, but Negaard sparked a 7-0 run with a jumper in the paint to take their first lead.
The Tommie defense stood strong in the first half, allowing just eight points in each quarter to hold a 29-16 lead at halftime. However, the Mavericks answered with a 26-6 run in the third quarter, sinking 10-of-14 from the field and taking a 42-37 lead near the end of the quarter.
Negaard accounted for seven of the Tommies' first eight points of the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 46-46. Despite staying within one point on multiple possessions, the Tommies were unable to close the gap.
St. Thomas shot 37.0 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from the 3-point line, compared to Omaha's 42.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from long range. The Tommies gave away 20 turnovers for 16 UNO points, while the Mavericks gave away 17 turnovers for 11 St. Thomas points. In addition to Negaard's 20 points, Jade Hill followed with 13 points and a team-high four assists, and Jo Langbehn added nine points.
Recapping the Denver Game
St. Thomas Women's Basketball suffered a 62-51 loss to Denver at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday.
The Tommies struggled to find the basket in the first quarter, going 0-of-16 from the floor and scoring only two points from the free-throw line. However, Sammy Opichka's layup with 30 seconds left in the quarter marked their first field goal. Despite their early struggles, the Tommies managed to grab seven offensive rebounds, including Opichka's layup.
Denver took a 15-4 lead into the second quarter and extended their lead to 16 points, 22-6, three minutes into the quarter. The Tommies fought back, with four different players scoring to start the second half to reduce the deficit to six points, 34-28. However, their momentum was lost as they gave away the ball on four turnovers during their next six possessions, allowing Denver to push the lead back to double digits, 43-33, heading into the fourth quarter.
Hill and Maggie Negaard led the Tommies with 12 points each, while Hill had six assists. Opichka scored nine points, and Lamker led the team with six rebounds. The Tommies shot 32.2% from the floor, 23.5% from the 3-point range, and 81.8% from the free-throw line compared to Denver's 43.5% from the field, 15.4% from the 3-point range, and 69.0% from the free-throw line.
Scouting Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts is 11-12 overall and 8-4 in the Summit League following a five-game winning streak, with the last loss coming Jan. 14 at St. Thomas, 76-75. ORU most recently took an 86-68 win over Kansas City on Feb. 4 at home.
Hannah Cooper leads the Summit League and is 17th in the country with 20.5 points per game. The four-time Summit League Performer of the Week also leads the league with 2.4 steals per game while Tirzah Moore is ninth in the country with 11.2 rebounds per game and shooting 61.5 percent from the floor.
The Golden Eagles are first in the Summit League scoring 78.1 points per game while allowing 80.5 points. ORU is shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from beyond the arc while being outrebounded by its opponents with a rebound margin of -4.0.
Series History vs. Oral Roberts
St. Thomas and Oral Roberts have played three times, with the Tommies' only win coming Jan. 14, 2023, 76-75, in St. Paul.
The Tommies held off a Golden Eagles fourth quarter attack as Maggie Negaard led the team with 19 points. Jade Hill chipped in 15 points while Jordyn Glynn added 11, as both totaled a team-best eight rebounds. Amber Scalia came off the bench to score 12 points.
Scouting Kansas City
Kansas City is 7-16 overall and 3-9 in the Summit League, falling in three of its last four games. UMKC most recently fell to Oral Roberts, 86-68, on Feb. 4 in Tulsa, Okla.
E'Lease Stafford leads the Roos and is fifth in the Summit League with 16.0 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting, which is eighth in the conference. She's tied with Maggie Negaard for third in the league with 2.3 3-pointers per game. Manna Mensah is second on the team with 12.3 points per game followed by Rain Green with 10.7 points.
The Roos average 64.4 points per game and allow 71.7 points. UMKC ranks 23rd in the country and leads the Summit League with 4.8 blocks per game. Kansas City is shooting 39.8 percent from the field, 31.1 percent from 3-point range and holds a rebound margin of 2.5.
Series History vs. Kansas City
St. Thomas and Kansas City have met three times, with the lone Tommie win in the series coming during the most recent matchup. The Purple took down the Roos, 63-60, on Jan. 12 in St. Paul.
Maggie Negaard neared triple-double figures in the game with a team-high 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Jordyn Lamker followed in scoring with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Jo Langbehn scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
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 seven games, including six of the last nine. 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.
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 eighth in the country and leads the Summit League shooting 45.0 percent from 3-point range. She also leads the Tommies and is tied for 10th in the league with 12.5 points per game. Negaard has made at least three 3-pointers in seven of the last 10 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 12.5 points per game over the last eight outings, scoring 16 points Jan. 7 at Omaha, 15 Jan. 14 against Oral Roberts, 13 Jan. 21 against Western Illinois, and 17 on Jan. 26 at South Dakota State.
Hill is tied for fourth in the Summit League with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, fourth with 1.9 steals, tied for fifth with 3.6 assists, and is 17th with 11.1 points per game.
Go Hard in the Paint
Sophomore Jo Langbehn recorded a 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.
After entering the 2022-23 season with a single-game career-high of 12 points, Langbehn topped that mark in three of a four-game stretch. She set a new mark of 14 points Dec. 3 at Idaho State before scoring 21 points at Wisconsin and following up with another 20-point effort Dec. 14 against Chicago State. Langbehn is third for St. Thomas with 9.9 points per game.
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 five of its last nine opponents to shoot at least 40 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.
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 five games left before the Summit League Championships, St. Thomas is jockeying for seeding position and currently rank ninth in the league. Both St. Thomas and Western Illinois, currently 10th in the conference standings, hold a .231 winning percentage and will meet Saturday, Feb. 18 in Macomb, Ill. Kansas City is in eighth place heading into the final meeting against St. Thomas this season.
The opening round of the Summit League Championship on 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.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @TommieWBBall
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2022 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
Recapping the Omaha Game
The St. Thomas Women's Basketball team fell to Omaha in a 58-54 loss on Thursday. Maggie Negaard led the Tommies with a game-high 20 points, making it the third time she hit the 20-point mark over the last six games. The Tommies trailed the Mavericks 5-2 in the early minutes of the game, but Negaard sparked a 7-0 run with a jumper in the paint to take their first lead.
The Tommie defense stood strong in the first half, allowing just eight points in each quarter to hold a 29-16 lead at halftime. However, the Mavericks answered with a 26-6 run in the third quarter, sinking 10-of-14 from the field and taking a 42-37 lead near the end of the quarter.
Negaard accounted for seven of the Tommies' first eight points of the fourth quarter, including a 3-pointer that tied the game at 46-46. Despite staying within one point on multiple possessions, the Tommies were unable to close the gap.
St. Thomas shot 37.0 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from the 3-point line, compared to Omaha's 42.6 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from long range. The Tommies gave away 20 turnovers for 16 UNO points, while the Mavericks gave away 17 turnovers for 11 St. Thomas points. In addition to Negaard's 20 points, Jade Hill followed with 13 points and a team-high four assists, and Jo Langbehn added nine points.
Recapping the Denver Game
St. Thomas Women's Basketball suffered a 62-51 loss to Denver at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday.
The Tommies struggled to find the basket in the first quarter, going 0-of-16 from the floor and scoring only two points from the free-throw line. However, Sammy Opichka's layup with 30 seconds left in the quarter marked their first field goal. Despite their early struggles, the Tommies managed to grab seven offensive rebounds, including Opichka's layup.
Denver took a 15-4 lead into the second quarter and extended their lead to 16 points, 22-6, three minutes into the quarter. The Tommies fought back, with four different players scoring to start the second half to reduce the deficit to six points, 34-28. However, their momentum was lost as they gave away the ball on four turnovers during their next six possessions, allowing Denver to push the lead back to double digits, 43-33, heading into the fourth quarter.
Hill and Maggie Negaard led the Tommies with 12 points each, while Hill had six assists. Opichka scored nine points, and Lamker led the team with six rebounds. The Tommies shot 32.2% from the floor, 23.5% from the 3-point range, and 81.8% from the free-throw line compared to Denver's 43.5% from the field, 15.4% from the 3-point range, and 69.0% from the free-throw line.
Scouting Oral Roberts
Oral Roberts is 11-12 overall and 8-4 in the Summit League following a five-game winning streak, with the last loss coming Jan. 14 at St. Thomas, 76-75. ORU most recently took an 86-68 win over Kansas City on Feb. 4 at home.
Hannah Cooper leads the Summit League and is 17th in the country with 20.5 points per game. The four-time Summit League Performer of the Week also leads the league with 2.4 steals per game while Tirzah Moore is ninth in the country with 11.2 rebounds per game and shooting 61.5 percent from the floor.
The Golden Eagles are first in the Summit League scoring 78.1 points per game while allowing 80.5 points. ORU is shooting 42.5 percent from the field and 29.2 percent from beyond the arc while being outrebounded by its opponents with a rebound margin of -4.0.
Series History vs. Oral Roberts
St. Thomas and Oral Roberts have played three times, with the Tommies' only win coming Jan. 14, 2023, 76-75, in St. Paul.
The Tommies held off a Golden Eagles fourth quarter attack as Maggie Negaard led the team with 19 points. Jade Hill chipped in 15 points while Jordyn Glynn added 11, as both totaled a team-best eight rebounds. Amber Scalia came off the bench to score 12 points.
Scouting Kansas City
Kansas City is 7-16 overall and 3-9 in the Summit League, falling in three of its last four games. UMKC most recently fell to Oral Roberts, 86-68, on Feb. 4 in Tulsa, Okla.
E'Lease Stafford leads the Roos and is fifth in the Summit League with 16.0 points per game on 38.7 percent shooting, which is eighth in the conference. She's tied with Maggie Negaard for third in the league with 2.3 3-pointers per game. Manna Mensah is second on the team with 12.3 points per game followed by Rain Green with 10.7 points.
The Roos average 64.4 points per game and allow 71.7 points. UMKC ranks 23rd in the country and leads the Summit League with 4.8 blocks per game. Kansas City is shooting 39.8 percent from the field, 31.1 percent from 3-point range and holds a rebound margin of 2.5.
Series History vs. Kansas City
St. Thomas and Kansas City have met three times, with the lone Tommie win in the series coming during the most recent matchup. The Purple took down the Roos, 63-60, on Jan. 12 in St. Paul.
Maggie Negaard neared triple-double figures in the game with a team-high 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Jordyn Lamker followed in scoring with 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Jo Langbehn scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
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 seven games, including six of the last nine. 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.
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 eighth in the country and leads the Summit League shooting 45.0 percent from 3-point range. She also leads the Tommies and is tied for 10th in the league with 12.5 points per game. Negaard has made at least three 3-pointers in seven of the last 10 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 12.5 points per game over the last eight outings, scoring 16 points Jan. 7 at Omaha, 15 Jan. 14 against Oral Roberts, 13 Jan. 21 against Western Illinois, and 17 on Jan. 26 at South Dakota State.
Hill is tied for fourth in the Summit League with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, fourth with 1.9 steals, tied for fifth with 3.6 assists, and is 17th with 11.1 points per game.
Go Hard in the Paint
Sophomore Jo Langbehn recorded a 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.
After entering the 2022-23 season with a single-game career-high of 12 points, Langbehn topped that mark in three of a four-game stretch. She set a new mark of 14 points Dec. 3 at Idaho State before scoring 21 points at Wisconsin and following up with another 20-point effort Dec. 14 against Chicago State. Langbehn is third for St. Thomas with 9.9 points per game.
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 five of its last nine opponents to shoot at least 40 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.
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 five games left before the Summit League Championships, St. Thomas is jockeying for seeding position and currently rank ninth in the league. Both St. Thomas and Western Illinois, currently 10th in the conference standings, hold a .231 winning percentage and will meet Saturday, Feb. 18 in Macomb, Ill. Kansas City is in eighth place heading into the final meeting against St. Thomas this season.
The opening round of the Summit League Championship on 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.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Women's Basketball, follow along on Twitter and Instagram at @TommieWBBall
Join Us
To reserve your seat to be a part of the Tommies' 2022 season, click HERE to view ticketing information and purchase options.
Players Mentioned
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