University of St. Thomas Athletics
3-1,0-0Summit League
Iowa State
4-0,0-0Big 12
#8 Iowa State too much in loss
11/14/2024 8:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The University of St. Thomas women's basketball team hoped to make a statement Thursday evening, when the team traveled to Ames, Iowa to take on #8 Iowa State University. The Cyclones proved to be too much, as they handed the Tommies their first loss of the 2024-25 season by a final score of 80-47. With the loss, St. Thomas is now 3-1 and Iowa State improves to 4-0.
RECAP:
Everything went the Cyclones way in the first quarter of play, as they missed just five shots in the opening 10 minutes of play. The Tommies, meanwhile, struggled offensively against the #8 team in the country. Despite strong looks, St. Thomas' shots bounced in, around, and out of the rim, as the Tommies scored a season-low 10 points in the opening quarter. Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Notre Dame Academy) accounted for six of those 10 points and Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) four, resulting in a 22-10 lead for Iowa State.
The Tommies made up some ground in the second quarter, outscoring the Cyclones 6-1 in the first five minutes to cut the lead to 23-16. Baskets from Langbehn, Opichka and Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) helped St. Thomas whittle the Iowa State lead to 25-16 by the media time out, but the Cyclones flipped the switch in the final five minutes of the quarter. Iowa State made several adjustments at the media time out and proceeded to outscore the Tommies 13-6 in the final five minutes of play, resulting in a 40-22 halftime lead for the Cyclones.
The third quarter was similar to the first, as Iowa State extended its lead to 50-25 by the media timeout. While St. Thomas chipped away, fueled by a second half surge by Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater), the Tommies never found an answer for the Cyclones. Iowa State led 66-38 after 30 minutes of play and held St. Thomas to just .277 shooting through the first three quarters.
In the end, the Cyclones were too much for the Tommies. Despite strong play from the St. Thomas bench in the final quarter, highlighted by baskets from Miklayla Werner (Hortonville, Minn. / Hortonville), Jordyn Lamker (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) and Alyssa Sand (Albany, Minn. / Albany), the deficit was too great, as the Tommies fell by a final score of 80-47.
TOP TOMMIES
- Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) led the team with 11 points Thursday evening on 5-10 shooting and added five rebounds, one assist and one block to her stat line.
- Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) led the team with seven rebounds, while Alyssa Sand (Albany, Minn. / Albany) scored seven points and added six rebounds in her Power 5 debut.
- Phoebe Frentzel (Pewaukee, Wis. / Arrowhead) recorded yet another multi-steal game, the 11th of her career with St. Thomas. She closed the night with three steals.
UP NEXT
The Tommies will look to rebound with a win at Wichita State on Saturday, November 16. Tip off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Wichita, Kansas.
