University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, January 13
St. Paul, Minn.
12:00 p.m. Central
11-7,3-1Summit League
73
vs
72
Oral Roberts
12-5,3-1Summit League
1
2
3
4
F
Oral Roberts
16
18
16
22
72
St. Thomas (MN)
18
16
15
24
73
Team Stats
ORU
UST
FG%
.403
.467
3FG%
.083
.368
FT%
.867
.526
RB
43
39
TO
14
18
STL
10
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballC
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
The Tommies celebrate Saturday's 73-72 win over Oral Roberts.
Photo by: Patrick Hart
Buzzer beater by Hill takes down Summit leaders
1/13/2024 3:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Hill makes go-ahead three with .1 remaining in regulation
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Big moments are born from great opportunity, and the University of St. Thomas women's basketball achieved, perhaps, its biggest moment of the Division I era. The Tommies upended undefeated Oral Roberts 73-72, as a buzzer beater from Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) secured the victory with .1 seconds remaining in regulation. The monumental win helps St. Thomas improve to 11-7 overall with a 3-1 mark in Summit League play.
RECAP
The Tommies started hot against the Summit League leaders, jumping out to a 6-2 lead thanks to a red hot offense and stifling defense. After scoring on three consecutive layups, Jordyn Glynn (Grand Meadow, Minn. / Grand Meadow) converted the first three-pointer of the game for St. Thomas, seemingly setting the tone, and giving the Tommies the early 9-4 lead. However, Oral Roberts quickly proved why it was the No. 1 team in the Summit League entering Saturday's contest. The Golden Eagles went to work, outscoring St. Thomas 10-3 in a three minute time span, and eventually held a 16-12 lead with 2:04 left in the first quarter.
Down four, the Tommies outscored Oral Roberts 6-0 in the final two minutes of the quarter, and Angelina Hammond (Hopkins, Minn. / Hopkins) secured a 18-16 lead at the end of the first. That wild minutes, though, set the tone for the second quarter, which featured three lead changes and a 34-34 tie at the half. St. Thomas, though, controlled the pace of play for the majority of the quarter, as the Tommies out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 12-7 in the second 10 minutes of play. With the game knotted 34-34, it looked like St. Thomas might walk into the locker room with a halftime lead. Hannah Cooper fouled Hill with 3.4 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Tommies one last chance for a buzzer beater. While it looked like Hill managed to get the shot off, the refs said she released the ball too late, resulting in the 34-34 tie.
The second half was similar to the first, as neither team could truly establish dominance. At one point, it looked like Oral Roberts might run away with the game, taking a 46-42 lead with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter. A 5-2 run by the Tommies in the closing minutes gave them a 50-49 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play. However, it looked like one of St. Thomas' biggest strengths would be its biggest weakness: free throws. The Tommies, who have consistently been on of the top free throw shooters in the Summit League, made just five through the first quarter of play, and Jordyn Lamker (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) went 1-2 from the line in the closing seconds, resulting in the slim one point lead.
With St. Thomas struggling from the charity stripe, the Golden Eagles went on a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter, taking a 58-51 lead with 6:38 left in regulation. Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) and Hill managed to stop the bleeding, scoring four unanswered points to whittle the lead to 58-53. However, Oral Roberts offense could seemingly not be stopped. Every time the Tommies scored, the Golden Eagles had an answer, until another small run bolstered the visitors lead to 66-58 with 2:52 remaining in regulation.
That was when things started to happen for St. Thomas. Another Hill layup made things 66-60, but it was the next defensive possession that truly turned the tide for the Tommies. Phoebe Frentzel (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) came up with a huge defensive rebound on a Golden Eagle layup, giving St. Thomas the ball with 2:19 on the clock. The junior then found a wide-open Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) near the top of the key, and the Tommies leading scorer did what she does best. She drained a three, drew the foul, and made the free throw, converting the four-point play to make it 66-64 with 2:06 remaining in regulation.
From there, the two teams went to work, duking it out for supremacy in the final two minutes. Scalia's three, though, changed the air in Schoenecker Arena. Even when Oral Roberts jumped out to a 70-64 lead, it felt like good things were coming for the Tommies. They certainly were. Hill made a wide open three from the top of the key to make it 70-67 with 59 seconds remaining in regulation, before the junior point guard's driving layup and one made it 70-70 with 33 seconds to go.
The Golden Eagles strategy was obvious out of their timeout. After advancing the ball, the plan was to drain as much time as possible from the clock and still take the lead. After Oral Roberts first shot banked off the rim, the visitors somehow managed to come up with the put back layup on the offensive rebound, making it 72-70 Golden Eagles with 3.6 remaining in regulation. Down two with no time remaining, St. Thomas head coach Ruth Sinn called a timeout, advancing the ball to the bench sideline and quickly going through the play. With Hill as the inbounder, the Tommies strategy seemed obvious: get the ball to Scalia around the arch. That was, initially, what happened. Hill inbounded the ball to Scalia, who was immediately swarmed by Oral Roberts' defense, leaving Hill wide open and unattended. The sophomore kicked the ball to her teammate, and Hill wasted no time sending the ball to the basket. After seeing her inital buzzer beater called off in the first half, Hill watched as the ball swished through the net, securing the St. Thomas victory 73-72.
TOP TOMMIES
RECAP
The Tommies started hot against the Summit League leaders, jumping out to a 6-2 lead thanks to a red hot offense and stifling defense. After scoring on three consecutive layups, Jordyn Glynn (Grand Meadow, Minn. / Grand Meadow) converted the first three-pointer of the game for St. Thomas, seemingly setting the tone, and giving the Tommies the early 9-4 lead. However, Oral Roberts quickly proved why it was the No. 1 team in the Summit League entering Saturday's contest. The Golden Eagles went to work, outscoring St. Thomas 10-3 in a three minute time span, and eventually held a 16-12 lead with 2:04 left in the first quarter.
Down four, the Tommies outscored Oral Roberts 6-0 in the final two minutes of the quarter, and Angelina Hammond (Hopkins, Minn. / Hopkins) secured a 18-16 lead at the end of the first. That wild minutes, though, set the tone for the second quarter, which featured three lead changes and a 34-34 tie at the half. St. Thomas, though, controlled the pace of play for the majority of the quarter, as the Tommies out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 12-7 in the second 10 minutes of play. With the game knotted 34-34, it looked like St. Thomas might walk into the locker room with a halftime lead. Hannah Cooper fouled Hill with 3.4 seconds remaining in the first half, giving the Tommies one last chance for a buzzer beater. While it looked like Hill managed to get the shot off, the refs said she released the ball too late, resulting in the 34-34 tie.
The second half was similar to the first, as neither team could truly establish dominance. At one point, it looked like Oral Roberts might run away with the game, taking a 46-42 lead with 3:49 remaining in the third quarter. A 5-2 run by the Tommies in the closing minutes gave them a 50-49 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play. However, it looked like one of St. Thomas' biggest strengths would be its biggest weakness: free throws. The Tommies, who have consistently been on of the top free throw shooters in the Summit League, made just five through the first quarter of play, and Jordyn Lamker (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) went 1-2 from the line in the closing seconds, resulting in the slim one point lead.
With St. Thomas struggling from the charity stripe, the Golden Eagles went on a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter, taking a 58-51 lead with 6:38 left in regulation. Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) and Hill managed to stop the bleeding, scoring four unanswered points to whittle the lead to 58-53. However, Oral Roberts offense could seemingly not be stopped. Every time the Tommies scored, the Golden Eagles had an answer, until another small run bolstered the visitors lead to 66-58 with 2:52 remaining in regulation.
That was when things started to happen for St. Thomas. Another Hill layup made things 66-60, but it was the next defensive possession that truly turned the tide for the Tommies. Phoebe Frentzel (Hartland, Wis. / Arrowhead) came up with a huge defensive rebound on a Golden Eagle layup, giving St. Thomas the ball with 2:19 on the clock. The junior then found a wide-open Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) near the top of the key, and the Tommies leading scorer did what she does best. She drained a three, drew the foul, and made the free throw, converting the four-point play to make it 66-64 with 2:06 remaining in regulation.
From there, the two teams went to work, duking it out for supremacy in the final two minutes. Scalia's three, though, changed the air in Schoenecker Arena. Even when Oral Roberts jumped out to a 70-64 lead, it felt like good things were coming for the Tommies. They certainly were. Hill made a wide open three from the top of the key to make it 70-67 with 59 seconds remaining in regulation, before the junior point guard's driving layup and one made it 70-70 with 33 seconds to go.
The Golden Eagles strategy was obvious out of their timeout. After advancing the ball, the plan was to drain as much time as possible from the clock and still take the lead. After Oral Roberts first shot banked off the rim, the visitors somehow managed to come up with the put back layup on the offensive rebound, making it 72-70 Golden Eagles with 3.6 remaining in regulation. Down two with no time remaining, St. Thomas head coach Ruth Sinn called a timeout, advancing the ball to the bench sideline and quickly going through the play. With Hill as the inbounder, the Tommies strategy seemed obvious: get the ball to Scalia around the arch. That was, initially, what happened. Hill inbounded the ball to Scalia, who was immediately swarmed by Oral Roberts' defense, leaving Hill wide open and unattended. The sophomore kicked the ball to her teammate, and Hill wasted no time sending the ball to the basket. After seeing her inital buzzer beater called off in the first half, Hill watched as the ball swished through the net, securing the St. Thomas victory 73-72.
TOP TOMMIES
- Junior Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) led the Tommies with 24 points and scored the game winner with .1 remaining in regulation. She shot 10-of-21 from the floor and made two threes in the closing minutes of the game. Hill also recorded six rebounds and five assists in the victory and recoreded her fourth 20+ point performance of the 2023-24 season.
- Junior Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) added 14 points on the game and a team-leading eight rebounds. She now has recorded 10+ points in 11 consecutive games and brought her season average to 12.6 this year.
- Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) closed the game with 14 points and a career-high six assists in Saturday's win.
UP NEXT
St. Thomas will stay home for its next Summit League match up, as the team is scheduled to host South Dakota on Thursday, January 18. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT in Schoenecker Arena, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Jade Hill School of Education Feature
Thursday, February 27
Press Conference: Tommie Women's Basketball Postgame vs ORU 02/26/25
Thursday, February 27
Press Conference: Tommie Women's Basketball Summit League Tournament Preview
Monday, March 04
Press Conference: Tommie Women's Basketball vs NDSU
Friday, February 23
