University of St. Thomas Athletics
Tommies host Sacramento State in opening round of Big Sky-Summit League Challenge
1/2/2024 2:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The second half of the season is officially underway for the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. With two Summit League contests under their belt, the Tommies return to Schoenecker Arena for one final nonconference contest. St. Thomas will host Sacramento State in the opening round of the inaugural Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, which will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 3.
The Tommies enter Wednesday's game on a hot streak, winning three consecutive games to open the Summit League schedule with a 2-0 record. St. Thomas opened conference play with a resounding 95-76 win over North Dakota, scoring over 90 points against a Summit League opponent for the first time in program history. The Tommies then followed it up with a 66-57 win at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, improving to 2-0 in conference play for the first time since joining the Summit League in 2021. On the flip side, St. Thomas' opponent has struggled in 2023-24, as Sacramento State enters the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge with a 1-10 record, including a 0-1 mark in conference play.
Tip off between St. Thomas and the Hornets is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota. Tickets are still available for purchase online at www.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 is off to a rip roaring start in Summit League play, improving to 2-0 thanks to an impressive 66-57 win over Kansas City on December 31. The Tommies found the perfect way to ring in the New Year, as they outscored the Roos 14-9 in the final quarter to remain undefeated in conference play. Jo Langbehn led St. Thomas' efforts in Kansas City, as she tallied her first double-double of 2023-24 in the victory. The junior forward was 8-11 from the field, scoring 17 points and tallying a career-high 13 rebounds in the victory. Amber Scalia and Jade Hill added 13 and 11 points respectively, while Angelina Hammond recorded her third consecutive game with at least one block and one steal on the defensive side of the ball.
TUNE IN: Basketball fans can follow the Tommies on their new streaming home, the Summit League Network, fueled by Midco Sports and the Midco Sports Plus App. The subscription-based service will provide a digital streaming platform for regular season home St. Thomas basketball games along with exclusive Tommie and Summit League content. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. Fans can also follow live stats on St. Thomas' official website: www.tommiesports.com.
THE OPPOSITION: Sacramento State has not gotten off to the best of starts in 2023-24 and are looking to turn things around in the second half of the season. The Hornets are 1-10 to start the year and enter Wednesday's contest on a four game losing skid. Sacramento State's lone win of 2023-24 came on December 2, when the team upended Cal State Northridge 58-48 on the Hornets home court. Since then, Sacramento State has been outscored 288-186 and has scored 60+ points in a game just once this season. Entering Wednesday's game, the Hornets offense is averaging just 49.4 points per game while surrendering an average of 69.0.
FEELING HOT: The Tommies, on the other hand, are off to their best start in Summit League play in program history. St. Thomas upended North Dakota 95-76 in its conference opener, scoring 90+ points in a Summit League contest for the first time in program history. The Tommies followed that up with a 66-57 road win over UMKC later that week, improving to 2-0 in conference play for the first time in the DI era. In fact, the last time St. Thomas opened conference play with a 2-0 record was in the DIII era. Back in the COVID shortened 2020-21 season, the Tommies opened Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a 3-0 record before dropping their first conference contest of the season. In its final DIII season, St. Thomas would go 6-1 with a 5-1 record in MIAC play.
RIDING HIGH: In addition to opening Summit League play with two wins, the Tommies enter Wednesday's conference riding a three-game win streak, which ties the longest win streak for the team this season. St. Thomas went on a three-game win streak in mid-November, defeating UW-River Falls, Utah Valley and Saint Mary's (Calif.) before suffering a loss to UC Irvine at a neutral site holiday tournament.
HOOPS HYSTERIA: St. Thomas men's and women's basketball teams are on a roll to open the 2023-24 conference schedule. The Tommies are the only men's and women's teams in the Summit League to open conference play with a perfect 2-0 record. The last time both Tommie basketball teams opened the season with a perfect conference record was in 2020-21, the final Division III season for the programs. Since head men's basketball coach Johnny Tauer took over in 2011, both teams opened conference play with a 2-0 record in eight seasons (2020-21, 2019-20, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17, 2013-14, 2012-13, 2011-12), and the women's team did it for 10 consecutive seasons from 2010-11 to 2019-20.
Of note: South Dakota State men's and women's teams also went undefeated in Summit League play, but only played one game the weekend of December 29-31.
900/100 CLUB: Junior guard Jade 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 918 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 looked 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.
CUP OF JO?: Jo Langbehn continued to impress when the Tommies opened Summit League play on December 29. The junior forward shot .722 from the field against North Dakota and Kansas City, converting 13 of 18 shots to score an average of 13.5 points. Currently, Langbehn ranks second in the nation in field goal percentage and is the only mid-major student-athlete to rank in the top-5 in the category.
SKY'S THE LIMIT: Wednesday's match up between St. Thomas and Sacramento State is a part of the inaugural Big Sky-Summit Challenge. The unconventional tournament format will feature each team from the two conferences playing two games, one home and one on the road. The two leagues will play for a combined trophy, taking the results of both the men's and women's games into play. Teams will be awarded one point for home wins and 1.5 points for road wins. The conference with the most combined points will win the coveted trophy. If there is a tie in points following the conclusion of all games, the first tiebreaker will be total margin of victory. The second tiebreaker will be an arm wrestling contest between the two commissioners.
AN APPLE A DAY...: Keeps the doctor at bay. Since Angelina Hammond returned to the Tommies starting line up on December 7, St. Thomas is 5-1 and 2-0 in Summit League play. In that same time span, Sammy Opichka and Jordyn Lamker also returned to the Tommies line up, giving St. Thomas size and presence inside the paint. With all three in the line up in some capacity, the Tommies are averaging 71.5 points, scoring 429 total in six games, while holding opponents to an average of 64.0 points per game.
STEALING VICTORIES: For the third consecutive game, St. Thomas recorded 10+ steals as a team, closing Sunday's game at UMKC with 10 total. Since losing to Wisconsin on December 13, the Tommies have tallied 32 total steals as a team and tied their season-high 12 in a win over UW-Stevens Point on December 16. Additionally, St. Thomas improved to 5-1 when recording 10+ steals in a game, with the team's only loss coming at the hands of Butler on November 25. In addition to record 10+ steals in the last three games, the Tommies have also recorded 3+ blocks in their last three victories.
