University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, December 21
St. Paul, Minn.
1:00 p.m. CT
vs
Drake
Photo by: George Dannecker
Tommies host Drake in final home game of 2024
12/18/2024 10:12:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – My, my, how 2024 blew by. With the calendar year ending, the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team will play one final game in Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies will host Drake University in its final game of 2024, with tipoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota.
It's a monumental game for several reasons. Thanks to last week's win over Western Illinois, St. Thomas head coach Ruth Sinn creeps ever closer to her 400th career win, now with 397 in her coaching tenure with the Tommies. Already the most successful coach in women's basketball history, Sinn would join for Tommie coaches Steve Fritz, Dennis Denning and John Tschida and current volleyball head coach Thanh Pham as the only coaches in St. Thomas history with 400 career wins with their respective programs. She would also become the first female coach to reach the threshold.
Tickets for Saturday's game are still available online at www.tommesports.com/tickets. Fans can also purchase a St. Thomas basketball Family Four Pack, which are now on sale for select men's and women's games. The Family Four Pack includes four tickets, four drinks of your choice, four food items of your choice and a St. Thomas branded cooler for the entire family. Tickets are available for the women's basketball games against North Dakota State (January 4) and Denver (January 25).
Fans who are unable to attend in person can now watch St. Thomas women's basketball through the Summit League Network and the Midco Sports Plus App. The subscription-based service will provide a digital streaming platform for regular season home St. Thomas women's basketball games along with exclusive Tommie and Summit League content, including replays, highlights, interviews, and special feature stories. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. The game will also air on FOX9+.
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas earned a nice win on its home court Sunday, upending former conference foe Western Illinois 69-56 to snap a two-game losing streak. The Tommies saw senior point guard Jade Hill score 20+ points for the third time this season, leading the team with a cool 26 on 9-15 shooting with four assists and two steals. Sammy Opichka and Jo Langbehn also joined Hill in double-digits, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively to lead St. Thomas' scoring efforts. The Tommies defense was also firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon, holding the Leathernecks to .328 shooting, including a .177 clip from three-point range.
THE OPPOSITION: Drake was the top team in The Valley in 2023-24, winning both the conference regular season and tournament title thanks to a 19-1 record in conference play. However, this year is a very different story. After posting a 29-6 record in 2023-24, the Bulldogs are just 5-6 this season despite returning two of their top scorers. Katie Dinnebier and Anna Miller returned after averaging 18.1 and 13.3 points per game in 2023-24 while shooting over .500 from the floor. The duo is still scoring in 2024-25, as is the team, but opponents are as well. Drake is averaging 75.4 points per game this season while surrendering 73.3 to opponents, including 76.2 in losses this year.
BACK IN 2023: These two teams met for the first time in history back on November 6, 2023. Aka the first game of the season for the Tommies and Bulldogs. Drake delt St. Thomas a tough 94-69 loss, holding the Tommies to 30 first half points, including eight in the first quarter. Four St. Thomas student-athletes scored 10+ points in the loss, including Hill, Langbehn and Amber Scalia, making their official debut as the Tommies Big Three. Faith Feuerbach also added 11 points off the bench, but she was the only nonstarter to score for St. Thomas. In fact, the Bulldogs bench outscored the Tommies 38-11, meaning the St. Thomas starters outscored Drake 58-56.
HAVE A SEAT: Offensive production has not been an issue for the Tommie starters this season. However, St. Thomas' bench has only outscored DI opponents twice this season and is being outscored 186-156 by opponents this season. That is including games against Crown and Macalester. Against Division I opponents, the Tommie bench is being outscored 175-79, though St. Thomas is 2-0 when its bench outscores DI opponents. This includes wins over NIU and Western Illinois this past Saturday.
MONKEY OFF THEIR BACKS?: It looks like the Tommies second quarter scoring woes may be over. St. Thomas put together its most productive second quarter of the season, going off for 22 points in the victory over the Leathernecks. Until last Saturday, the Tommies had yet to outscore an opponent in the second quarter of play. In fact, St. Thomas was being outscored 163-122 prior to Saturday's game against Western Illinois and slimmed the margin to 174-144 after the win. The Tommies lowest scoring quarter was actually the fourth, which the Leathernecks won by a 20-13 margin.
WHAT CAN'T SHE DO?: Jade Hill recorded her third 20+ point performance of the season on Saturday, leading St. Thomas with 26 points on 9-15 shooting in the victory over Western Illinois. It just so happened to be her 100th game played with the Purple. In 100 games, Hill has scored 1285 points with 161 steals and 378 assists. Thanks to her 21 assists in the last four games, Hill moved to second all-time in career assists, trailing just Teri Witcraft's 406. She also currently ranks ninth all-time in career points and could move to eighth with a 10 point performance against the Bulldogs.
THE WRIGHT THINGS: Junior Riley Wright is the Tommie's lone Iowan on St. Thomas' roster this year. A transfer from Northern Iowa, Wright will square off against old friends Saturday in Katie Dinnebier, Ashley Iiams, Ava Hawthorne and Brooklin Dailey. They were all members of the 2019 All Iowa Attack team that won the 16U EYBL National Championship while going undefeated. Why does that name ring a bell? Well, the All Iowa Attack is the same AAU program currently Indiana star Caitlin Clark played for, though she was not on the 2019 16U team with Wright and Co.
FUTURE TOMMIE CONNECTION: "That name looks familiar". If you're referring to Drake's Abbie Aalsma, you're right. The name should look familiar because she's the older sister of Tommie commit Lydia Aalsma. Lydia was part of head coach Ruth Sinn's most recent recruit class, which was announced back in November. Lydia signed to play with St. Thomas after a successful three seasons at Waupan High School in Waupan, Wisconsin. A basketball and track star, Aalsma earned First Team All-Conference and All-State honors twice in her career and led Waupan basketball to a state title in 2022. She additionally earned a silver medal in the 400 meter dash at the Wisconsin State Track and Field Championships in 2024 and plays club basketball for Wisconsin Impact. Her sister, Abbie, joined Drake's roster this offseason after two seasons at Illinois State.
IT'S A CHEESEHEAD THING...: Green Bay native Sammy Opichka put together another outstanding performance in the Tommies victory over Western Illinois. The senior recorded her fifth 10+ point scoring performance in the win and led the team with eight rebounds for the second consecutive game. St. Thomas improved to 3-1 this season with Opichka records at least eight rebounds in a win with wins over Milwaukee (13), NIU (8) and Western Illinois. Fully healthy, Opichka has started all 11 games for the Tommies this season and is averaging a career-high 10.5 points per game to open the year.
BLOCK PARTY: St. Thomas' defense continues to be stifling through the first two months of the season. In Saturday's win, the Tommies held the Leathernecks to .328 shooting, including a .177 clip from three point range. St. Thomas was also credited with four blocks and three steals, as the team continues to rank toward the top of the Summit League in both categories. Entering Saturday's game against Drake, the Tommies lead the Summit League in total blocks (50) and blocks per game (4.55), while Opichka continues to lead the League with 13 total blocks. Jordyn Lamker moved to third in the same category, as her two block performance against Western Illinois brought her single season total to 11.
WE HEART IOWA: Not really. The Tommies are still looking for their first win vs. an Iowa opponent in the DI era, as they are 0-5 entering the game against Drake. It was a different story in the DIII era. Under head coach Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas was 11-3 against Iowa colleges and universities, according to available records. The Tommies only losses, dating back to 2005, came at the hands of Luther and Wartburg prior to the DI jump. Since then, St. Thomas Iowa losses have come at the hands of UNI, Drake and Iowa State.
It's a monumental game for several reasons. Thanks to last week's win over Western Illinois, St. Thomas head coach Ruth Sinn creeps ever closer to her 400th career win, now with 397 in her coaching tenure with the Tommies. Already the most successful coach in women's basketball history, Sinn would join for Tommie coaches Steve Fritz, Dennis Denning and John Tschida and current volleyball head coach Thanh Pham as the only coaches in St. Thomas history with 400 career wins with their respective programs. She would also become the first female coach to reach the threshold.
Tickets for Saturday's game are still available online at www.tommesports.com/tickets. Fans can also purchase a St. Thomas basketball Family Four Pack, which are now on sale for select men's and women's games. The Family Four Pack includes four tickets, four drinks of your choice, four food items of your choice and a St. Thomas branded cooler for the entire family. Tickets are available for the women's basketball games against North Dakota State (January 4) and Denver (January 25).
Fans who are unable to attend in person can now watch St. Thomas women's basketball through the Summit League Network and the Midco Sports Plus App. The subscription-based service will provide a digital streaming platform for regular season home St. Thomas women's basketball games along with exclusive Tommie and Summit League content, including replays, highlights, interviews, and special feature stories. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. The game will also air on FOX9+.
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas earned a nice win on its home court Sunday, upending former conference foe Western Illinois 69-56 to snap a two-game losing streak. The Tommies saw senior point guard Jade Hill score 20+ points for the third time this season, leading the team with a cool 26 on 9-15 shooting with four assists and two steals. Sammy Opichka and Jo Langbehn also joined Hill in double-digits, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively to lead St. Thomas' scoring efforts. The Tommies defense was also firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon, holding the Leathernecks to .328 shooting, including a .177 clip from three-point range.
THE OPPOSITION: Drake was the top team in The Valley in 2023-24, winning both the conference regular season and tournament title thanks to a 19-1 record in conference play. However, this year is a very different story. After posting a 29-6 record in 2023-24, the Bulldogs are just 5-6 this season despite returning two of their top scorers. Katie Dinnebier and Anna Miller returned after averaging 18.1 and 13.3 points per game in 2023-24 while shooting over .500 from the floor. The duo is still scoring in 2024-25, as is the team, but opponents are as well. Drake is averaging 75.4 points per game this season while surrendering 73.3 to opponents, including 76.2 in losses this year.
BACK IN 2023: These two teams met for the first time in history back on November 6, 2023. Aka the first game of the season for the Tommies and Bulldogs. Drake delt St. Thomas a tough 94-69 loss, holding the Tommies to 30 first half points, including eight in the first quarter. Four St. Thomas student-athletes scored 10+ points in the loss, including Hill, Langbehn and Amber Scalia, making their official debut as the Tommies Big Three. Faith Feuerbach also added 11 points off the bench, but she was the only nonstarter to score for St. Thomas. In fact, the Bulldogs bench outscored the Tommies 38-11, meaning the St. Thomas starters outscored Drake 58-56.
HAVE A SEAT: Offensive production has not been an issue for the Tommie starters this season. However, St. Thomas' bench has only outscored DI opponents twice this season and is being outscored 186-156 by opponents this season. That is including games against Crown and Macalester. Against Division I opponents, the Tommie bench is being outscored 175-79, though St. Thomas is 2-0 when its bench outscores DI opponents. This includes wins over NIU and Western Illinois this past Saturday.
MONKEY OFF THEIR BACKS?: It looks like the Tommies second quarter scoring woes may be over. St. Thomas put together its most productive second quarter of the season, going off for 22 points in the victory over the Leathernecks. Until last Saturday, the Tommies had yet to outscore an opponent in the second quarter of play. In fact, St. Thomas was being outscored 163-122 prior to Saturday's game against Western Illinois and slimmed the margin to 174-144 after the win. The Tommies lowest scoring quarter was actually the fourth, which the Leathernecks won by a 20-13 margin.
WHAT CAN'T SHE DO?: Jade Hill recorded her third 20+ point performance of the season on Saturday, leading St. Thomas with 26 points on 9-15 shooting in the victory over Western Illinois. It just so happened to be her 100th game played with the Purple. In 100 games, Hill has scored 1285 points with 161 steals and 378 assists. Thanks to her 21 assists in the last four games, Hill moved to second all-time in career assists, trailing just Teri Witcraft's 406. She also currently ranks ninth all-time in career points and could move to eighth with a 10 point performance against the Bulldogs.
THE WRIGHT THINGS: Junior Riley Wright is the Tommie's lone Iowan on St. Thomas' roster this year. A transfer from Northern Iowa, Wright will square off against old friends Saturday in Katie Dinnebier, Ashley Iiams, Ava Hawthorne and Brooklin Dailey. They were all members of the 2019 All Iowa Attack team that won the 16U EYBL National Championship while going undefeated. Why does that name ring a bell? Well, the All Iowa Attack is the same AAU program currently Indiana star Caitlin Clark played for, though she was not on the 2019 16U team with Wright and Co.
FUTURE TOMMIE CONNECTION: "That name looks familiar". If you're referring to Drake's Abbie Aalsma, you're right. The name should look familiar because she's the older sister of Tommie commit Lydia Aalsma. Lydia was part of head coach Ruth Sinn's most recent recruit class, which was announced back in November. Lydia signed to play with St. Thomas after a successful three seasons at Waupan High School in Waupan, Wisconsin. A basketball and track star, Aalsma earned First Team All-Conference and All-State honors twice in her career and led Waupan basketball to a state title in 2022. She additionally earned a silver medal in the 400 meter dash at the Wisconsin State Track and Field Championships in 2024 and plays club basketball for Wisconsin Impact. Her sister, Abbie, joined Drake's roster this offseason after two seasons at Illinois State.
IT'S A CHEESEHEAD THING...: Green Bay native Sammy Opichka put together another outstanding performance in the Tommies victory over Western Illinois. The senior recorded her fifth 10+ point scoring performance in the win and led the team with eight rebounds for the second consecutive game. St. Thomas improved to 3-1 this season with Opichka records at least eight rebounds in a win with wins over Milwaukee (13), NIU (8) and Western Illinois. Fully healthy, Opichka has started all 11 games for the Tommies this season and is averaging a career-high 10.5 points per game to open the year.
BLOCK PARTY: St. Thomas' defense continues to be stifling through the first two months of the season. In Saturday's win, the Tommies held the Leathernecks to .328 shooting, including a .177 clip from three point range. St. Thomas was also credited with four blocks and three steals, as the team continues to rank toward the top of the Summit League in both categories. Entering Saturday's game against Drake, the Tommies lead the Summit League in total blocks (50) and blocks per game (4.55), while Opichka continues to lead the League with 13 total blocks. Jordyn Lamker moved to third in the same category, as her two block performance against Western Illinois brought her single season total to 11.
WE HEART IOWA: Not really. The Tommies are still looking for their first win vs. an Iowa opponent in the DI era, as they are 0-5 entering the game against Drake. It was a different story in the DIII era. Under head coach Ruth Sinn, St. Thomas was 11-3 against Iowa colleges and universities, according to available records. The Tommies only losses, dating back to 2005, came at the hands of Luther and Wartburg prior to the DI jump. Since then, St. Thomas Iowa losses have come at the hands of UNI, Drake and Iowa State.
Players Mentioned
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