University of St. Thomas Athletics
South Dakota
Women's basketball hosts Coyotes in midweek tilt
1/16/2024 4:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball
St. Thomas enters with a 3-1 record in Summit League play
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It was quite the weekend for the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. The Tommies earned a thrilling 73-72 victory over Oral Roberts on Saturday, courtesy of a last second shot by junior guard Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South). Fresh of its thrilling victory, St. Thomas is back on Schoenecker Arena of Thursday, as the Tommies are set to host the University of South Dakota in their lone Summit League game this week.
St. Thomas is 1-3 all-time in four games against the Coyotes, winning the last meeting in Vermillion, South Dakota 70-64. After dropping a nail biter at home earlier in the 2022-23 season, the Tommies used huge performances from Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River), Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Notre Dame) and Jordyn Lamker (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) to earn their first ever win over the Coyotes. The trio scored a combined 40 points in the win, with Lamker pulling in a team0leading eight rebounds in the victory.
The rematch between St. Thomas and South Dakota is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tickets are still available for purchase online at 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 earned a thrilling victory over Oral Roberts, snapping the Golden Eagles six game win streak with a 73-72 victory at Schoenecker Arena. In a back-and-forth game that featured 11 ties and six lead changes, the Tommies found themselves down 66-58 with under three minutes remaining in regulation. A huge four-point play by Amber Scalia seemingly tipped the scale toward St. Thomas, as she single-handedly whittled the lead to 66-64. A 4-0 run by Oral Roberts gave the Golden Eagles a 70-64 advantage and fueled the Tommies dramatic comeback. Jade Hill scored nine of her team-leading 24 points in the final minute of regulation, including the game-winning buzzer beater with .1 left in the game. In addition to Hill's 24 points, Scalia and Jo Langbehn each scored 14, meaning the trio scored 52 of the team's 73 points in the victory.
THE OPPOSITION: South Dakota was one of the hottest teams in the Summit League in November and December. The Coyotes won seven consecutive games from November 25 to December 20, earning wins both at home and on the road. South Dakota also had an extremely difficult nonconference schedule to open the year, as the Coyotes took on nationally ranked Creighton, Michigan and Arizona. However, since opening Summit League play on December 29, the South Dakota has struggled, posting a 2-3 record, with a 1-2 mark in conference play. Grace Larkins has been the catalyst of the Coyotes offense, averaging 16.9 points per game while also averaging 7.5 rebounds per game. Kendall Holmes is the only other player averaging double-digits in scoring, as she enters Thursday's game averaging 11.1 points per game.
SO CLOSE!: South Dakota is one of the few Summit League opponents with a pristine 2-0 record in Schoenecker Arena. However, just three free throws made the difference in the last meeting at Schoenecker Arena between these two teams. St. Thomas trailed by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before mounting a furious rally before pulling within one at 55-54 with 19 seconds remaining in regulation. Stingy defense by the Tommies forced a Coyote turnover, giving St. Thomas the ball back with 19 seconds on the board. Sammy Opichka made the go-ahead jumper five seconds later, and it was St. Thomas with a 56-55 lead and 14 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately, a late foul by the Tommies proved costly, as South Dakota sunk three free throws to secure the 58-56 victory.
HOME SWEET HOME: St. Thomas is 6-2 at home this season with the only two losses coming at the hands of Power 5 opponents. In fact, since losing to Wisconsin on December 13, the Tommies have rattled off four consecutive wins at Schoenecker Arena, including two Summit League wins over North Dakota and Oral Roberts.
AN APPLE A DAY...: As the team's starting point guard, Jade Hill has racked up the assists this season, recording no less than three in every game so far this season. Thanks to her five assist performance on Saturday, Hill has tallied 5+ assists in nine games this season, leading St. Thomas to a 6-3 record in that stretch. With 78 assists this season, Hill ranks second in the Summit League in total assists (78) and assists per game (4.3) and ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4). South Dakota's Grace Larkin is the only player with more assists this season, tallying 97 total in 18 games.
COUNTDOWN TO 1000: 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. In the win over North Dakota, Hill became the first DI-only player to score 900 points with the Tommies and now owns 981 career points. To this date, Hill is the only Tommie in the Division I era with over 900 points, 100 steals and 250 assists since the program made the leap in 2021.
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 looks 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.
LUCKY #20: The Tommies have put together a well-balanced offense this season, with three players averaging double-digit points midway through January. However, two student-athletes have stood above the rest: Amber Scalia and Jade Hill. Either Scalia or Hill has scored 20+ points in eight games this season, and the duo both scored over 20 points against UW-River Falls and North Dakota. St. Thomas is 6-2 this season when Scalia or Hill scores at least 20 points and 2-0 when both score 20+ in the same game.
BIG THREE: Speaking of double-digit scorers, the Tommies big three once again put up big numbers in the win over Oral Roberts. Amber Scalia, Jade Hill and Jo Langbehn scored a combined 52 points on Saturday, marking the sixth consecutive game the trio has all scored in double figures. In the last six games, the trio has scored a combined 286 points, averaging 47.7 per game during that stretch. St. Thomas, as a team, has averaged 70.2 points during that stretch, meaning Scalia, Hill and Langbehn have accounted for roughly 68% of the team's offense in the last six games.
THIEF IN THE NIGHT: Phoebe Frentzel tallied a team-leading three steals in a loss at SDSU last week and recorded one in Saturday's win over Oral Roberts. The three steal performance against the Jackrabbits was the sixth multi-steal game of the season for the junior guard, who currently ranks second on the team with 25 total steals. However, a big defensive game for Frentzel doesn't always result in victory for St. Thomas. The Tommies are 3-3 in Frentzel's multi-steal games, and all three of those wins occurred in the comforts of Schoenecker Arena. The junior recorded multiple steals in home wins over UW-River Falls, Utah Valley and UW-Stevens Point.
Of note: Frentzel and Hill are the only St. Thomas players with over 20 steals this season. Hill, who leads the team with 37, has recorded multiple steals in 11 games this season and recorded at least one steal in 16 consecutive games before her streak was snapped against SDSU last week.
BEYOND THE ARC: St. Thomas' three-point shooting has really come alive since opening conference play on December 29. The Tommies have shot over .300 from the arc in seven of their last eight games, including a season-high .565 clip against the Fighting Hawks in late December. Where St. Thomas has really stepped up is its perimeter defense. The Tommies have held two of their last three opponents to sub-.200 three-point shooting percentages, and actually held the Jackrabbits to a .273 percentage in the first half of Thursday's game.
