University of St. Thomas Athletics
Omaha
Women's basketball opens February with UNO, UMKC
1/30/2024 4:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The University of St. Thomas women's basketball team is coming home. After a weekend on the road, the Tommies will kick off February with a two-game homestand, as they are set to host the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the University of Missouri-Kansas City this upcoming Thursday and Saturday.
The game between St. Thomas and Omaha is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 1 at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota, while Saturday's game against the Roos has a 12:02 p.m. start time. Why, you ask, is Saturday's game starting two minutes late? The Tommies will make their FOX9+ debut on Saturday, kicking off four consecutive weeks of St. Thomas athletics on the broadcast network.
In addition to airing on FOX9+, both games will air 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 got back to its winning ways on Saturday. After a disappointing road loss to North Dakota State, the Tommies rebounded with a 76-66 victory over North Dakota, earning their first Summit League sweep of the 2023-24 season. Amber Scalia was lights out for St. Thomas in Grand Forks, scoring a career-high 32 points on 9-19 shooting, including a 5-10 clip from beyond the arc. In fact, when the Fighting Hawks were starting to gain momentum, it was Scalia that flipped the script, scoring 13 of her 32 points in the final five minutes of the second quarter to secure a 34-19 lead for the Tommies. St. Thomas' defense was also superb, as the Tommies did not allow North Dakota to score a single point for an eight minute stretch over the second and third quarters.
THE OPPOSITION: Omaha earned a key victory of its own on Saturday, as the Mavericks defeated Denver for their first Summit League win of the 2023-24 season. It was anyone's ball game, though, with one minute left to play. In fact, the Pioneers actually led Omaha with 56 seconds remaining in regulation, but the Mavericks mounted an impressive comeback, going 5-6 from the free throw line to secure the 80-77 win. In previous Summit League contests, though, Omaha has struggled with consistency, despite having one of the top scorers in the league on its roster. Kennedi Grant is averaging 17.2 points per game against conference opponents, and the Mavericks have had no issues scoring thanks to their 70.63 points per game average. Omaha's problem is surrendering points. The Mavericks have allowed Summit League opponents to score 690 points this season, an average of 86.25 per game.
LOW SCORING AFFAIR: History indicates Thursday's game at Schoenecker Arena will be a low scoring affair. In four meetings between the two teams, the Tommies have scored an average of 61.8 points per game, with Omaha averaging 62.8 points per game. Additionally, the two teams have only scored 70+ points once in league play. Last season, the Mavericks pulled away with an 80-77 overtime victory against St. Thomas, which is the first and only time both teams scored 70+ points in a single game. The other three were determined by scores of 61-55 (Omaha W), 51-56 (St. Thomas W) and 58-54 (Omaha W).
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: There's a new member in the Tommies 1000 point club. Thanks to her first quarter free throws against NDSU, junior Jade Hill became the first St. Thomas women's basketball player in the DI era to surpass the 1000 point milestone. She's additionally the only DI women's basketball player to spend her entire career with the Tommies and score 1000 career points and record over 100 career steals and 250 career assists. Hill will be honored in a short ceremony prior to Thursday's competition.
MAGICAL AFTERNOON: It was a magical day in Grand Forks for Amber Scalia. The sophomore guard became just the second player in the DI era to score over 30 points in a game, as she scored 32 in the Tommies win over North Dakota. Scalia's performance ended a two year drought for St. Thomas, as the team played 64 games without a single player scoring over 30 points. Additionally, Scalia was one of three Tommie basketball players to score 32 points last weekend. Parker Bjorklund (vs NDSU) and Raheem Anthony (vs UND) both scored 32 points for the men's team last weekend, becoming the first St. Thomas trio to score 30+ points in the same weekend in the DI era.
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 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 nine games this season, and the duo both scored over 20 points against UW-River Falls and North Dakota. St. Thomas is 7-2 this season when Scalia or Hill scores at least 20 points and 2-0 when both score 20+ in the same game.
OMAHA!: The Tommies defense has risen to the occasion since opening Summit League play on December 29. St. Thomas currently ranks third in the conference in total team defense, allowing conference opponents to score just 70.6 points through seven games this season. The Tommies will have their hands full on Thursday. While the Mavericks are only averaging 70.6 points in Summit League play, they're currently averaging 73.7 overall points per game, which ranks third in the conference behind Oral Roberts and NDSU.
JUMPING ROOS!: In addition to Omaha, St. Thomas will also host UMKC over the weekend. The Tommies and Roos already squared off once this season, and it was St. Thomas who left Kansas City, Mo. with a 66-57 victory. The win helped the Tommies open Summit League play with a 2-0 record for the first time since joining the conference in 2023-24. If St. Thomas beats UMKC on Saturday, it would count as the team's second Summit League sweep of the season and the team's first ever back-to-back conference sweep in the Division I era.
BLOCKAGE: Angelina Hammond continued to put on a defensive clinic last weekend, as she recorded her seventh multi-block game for the Tommies this season. The fifth year senior was credited with three blocks in St. Thomas' loss to North Dakota State and added one in the win over North Dakota, bringing her season total up to 25. Entering the weekend, Hammond ranks third in the conference in total blocks (25) and second in blocks vs. Summit League opponents (12). In addition to her impressive block numbers, Hammond has recorded two or more steals in five games this season and owns the Division I record for single game blocks with four (at Milwaukee - December 7, 2023).
CUPPA JOE: Forward Jo Langbehn has found plenty of success against UMKC. In the win on December 31, the junior tallied her first double-double of the 2023-24 season, as she led the team with 17 points and 13 rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Langbehn was even better in February 2023. The then sophomore forward scored a career-high 29 points on 12-16 shooting in the Tommies 80-57 win over UMKC. Langbehn is due for a 20+ performance in 2023-24. As a junior, she enters Sunday's contest ranking top-10 in the country in field goal percentage and has scored at least 10 points in 12 consecutive games from December 2 to January 18. However, Langbehn has yet to score 20+ points in a single contest this year, scoring a season-high 19 twice against UW-Stevens Point and Saint Mary's (Calif.).
