University of St. Thomas Athletics
7-4,0-0Summit League
Western Illinois
5-3,0-0OVC
Tommies gas Leathernecks in 69-56 win
12/14/2024 4:27:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The holiday season is officially treating the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team well. The Tommies received an early Christmas gift 10 days before Christmas Eve, playing perhaps one of their best games of the season against Western Illinois University. St. Thomas defeated the visiting Leathernecks 69-56, improving to 7-4 on the season with one game remaining before the holiday break.
RECAP:
Thanks to solid play on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, the Tommies led Saturday's game from start to finish, jumping out to an 8-0 lead on baskets from Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South), Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) and Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River). While the offense was scoring, the St. Thomas defense was stifling, as the Tommies did not allow Western Illinois to score its first basket until 6:44 in the first quarter. Even then, the Leathernecks had to fight tooth and nail for every point, including their leading scorer Raegan McCowan. Thanks to an outstanding effort by the St. Thomas defense, McCowan scored just two baskets in the first 20 minutes of play, going 2-7 from the floor in the first half alone.
With the Tommies defense was holding the Leathernecks at bay, the offense continued to produce, and St. Thomas led 17-11 after the first quarter. However, the second has been the Tommies kryptonite in 2024-25. Entering Saturday's contest, St. Thomas was outscored 163-122 in the quarter and scored a combined eight points in the second against Northern Colorado and Idaho. However, the Tommies put the boogeyman to bed in Saturday's win. For the first time all season, St. Thomas outscored its opponent in the second, racing out to a 39-22 halftime lead after outscoring Western Illinois 22-11 in the quarter.
The third quarter was much like the first, as the two teams fought for every basket and every point. In fact, neither team scored a basket for nearly a full two minutes, as McCowan finally broke the scoring drought at 8:03 in the quarter. Jordyn Lamker (Maple Grove, Minn. / Maple Grove) made St. Thomas' first basket of the third, and from there, it was off to the races. For every basket Western Illinois scored, St. Thomas countered. Baskets from Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Notre Dame Academy) and Hill helped the Tommies maintain a double-digit lead, and a three from Phoebe Frentzel (Pewaukee, Wis. / Arrowhead) secured a 56-36 lead for St. Thomas entering the fourth quarter of play.
Things did get a little dicey in the fourth quarter. McCowan and the Leathernecks opened the fourth with a 10-0 run, whittling the St. Thomas lead to 56-46 with 7:42 remaining in regulation. However, it was no harm, no foul for the Tommies. After a Hill layup regained a 10-point lead for St. Thomas, a steal-and-score play by Scalia all put cemented the victory, pulling the momentum right out from under Western Illinois as the Tommies took a 60-46 lead. A few more defensive stops truly secured the victory, as St. Thomas went on to claim a 69-56 win.
TOP TOMMIES
- Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) scored 20+ points for the third time this season, closing the game with 26 total on 9-15 shooting, including a 2-5 clip from three-point range. Hill also tallied four assists, three rebounds and two steals in the win.
- Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) and Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Notre Dame Academy) both scored in double-digits for the Tommies, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. Opichka also added a team-leading eight rebounds in the win.
- Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) closed the game with a team-leading five assists, her fourth multi-assist game this season.
UP NEXT
St. Thomas will close out its 2024 home slate on Saturday, December 21, as the team hosts Drake University in its final home game of the calendar year. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
