University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wednesday, December 4
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. CT
vs
Northern Colorado
Photo by: Caroline Turnbull
Tommies host Northern Colorado to open Big Sky-Summit Challenge
12/3/2024 3:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The University of St. Thomas women's basketball team is off to a historic start in 2024-25. The Tommies are 6-2 through eight games this season, their best start of the Division I era, and look to make it 7-2 when they host Northern Colorado to open the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge on Wednesday.
Wednesday's Big Sky-Summit League Challenge opener could be one of the most exciting games of the season for St. Thomas, which enters the contest riding a three-game win streak since losing back-to-back games to #8 Iowa State and Wichita State in mid-November. The Tommies and Bears are two equally matched teams, both holding opponents to under 65.0 points per game this season with outstanding scorers and offenses to boot. Additionally, St. Thomas has set three Division I era records since opening play on November 4 as Ruth Sinn trickles closer to her 400th career win. Tickets are currently on sale at www.tommiesports.com/tickets.
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 football games along with exclusive Tommie and Pioneer Football League (PFL) content, including replays, highlights, interviews, and special feature stories. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. Fans can also listen to the call on 1500 ESPN and the Varsity Network App and follow Live Stats on TommieSports.com.
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas is officially back to its winning ways, claiming its third consecutive victory on Sunday over UIC to improve to 6-2 this season. The Tommies extinguished in Flames in a thrilling 75-71 win, improving to 4-2 against Division I opponents in 2024-25. St. Thomas saw big scoring performances from five student-athletes, as Sammy Opichka (22), Jade Hill (15), Jo Langbehn (15), Amber Scalia (13) and Alyssa Sand (10) all scored in double-digits in the Tommies victories. Trailing 64-58 with 6:00 left in the fourth quarter, St. Thomas outscored UIC 17-7 in the final minutes of regulation to secure the team's third consecutive victory.
TUNE IN: Women's basketball fans can watch the Tommies on Midco Sports Plus 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. Starting September 3, fans can purchase the Midco Sports All In Package. This package gives fans access to the Summit League Network, CCHA TV and Tommie football games for the cost of $29.99 per month.
THE OPPOSITION: Northern Colorado is off to a red hot start in 2024-25, winning its last four games to improve to 5-2 this season. Key to the Bears success? Defense. Through seven games this season, Northern Colorado has held opponents 58.1 points on a .368 field goal percentage, including a .244 clip from three-point range. The Bears are no slouches on offense either. Northern Colorado is outscoring its opponents by 25.1 margin, averaging 83.3 points per game while shooting .515 from the floor. Their leading scorer, Tatum West, has been lights out, scoring 23 points on 11-12 shooting with five steals and six rebounds.
BEST START EVER (IN DI): St. Thomas is off to its best start in the Division I era, as the team enters Wednesday's contest with a 6-2 record, including a 4-2 mark against DI opponents. It's not just that the Tommies are winning. It's how they're winning that's been impressive. St. Thomas has gritted out some impressive wins, defeating Division I opponents by an average of 6.25 points per game. Division I home games have been especially thrilling for the Tommies. Thanks to fourth quarter comebacks, St. Thomas is 2-0 against DI opponents in Schoenecker Arena, winning both games by four points or less.
BIG SKY-SUMMIT CHALLENGE: The Tommies will take on the Bears as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. For the second year in a row, the Big Sky and Summit League will play for a trophy to claim supremacy in Mid Major basketball. Both men's and women's results will be equally considered from 36 total games, with teams playing both at home and on the road. Whichever conference wins the most contests will be declared the victor, with arm wrestling serving as the final tiebreaker.
CUPPA JO: Fans witnessed two historic moments in Schoenecker Arena on Sunday, as Jo Langbehn and Jade Hill continued to make their mark on Tommie Women's Basketball. Langbehn became the second player in the DI era to score 1000 career points, eclipsing the mark in the third quarter of Sunday's win over UIC. The senior forward is currently averaging 17.4 points per game this season and has 10+ points in seven of eight games. Langbehn's .656 field goal percentage leads the Summit League entering Wednesday's contest, and she ranks sixth in the nation in the same category.
AN APPLE A DAY... : Keeps opponents away. In addition to Langbehn scoring her 1000th career point, Jade Hill made history Sunday afternoon, setting the DI era record for assists in the game. Hill was credited with 11 assists in the victory, the most of any Tommie player since the team made the move to Division I in 2021. The senior and teammate Amber Scalia shared the record previously, with both recorded nine assists in their respective St. Thomas careers. Thanks to her performance on Sunday, Hill now ranks second all-time in career assists, and inches closer to Teri Witcraft's program record of 406.
FEELING HOT HOT HOT!: Scalia got off to a rough start in 2024-25, scoring just seven points in the team's season opener against Milwaukee. Since November 4, the junior guard has scored 10+ points in six of seven games and has been on a tear during the Tommies three game win streak. Over the last three games, Scalia has scored 22, 15 and 13 points respectively, averaging 16.7 during that stretch. She's also shot .500 from three-point range in each of the last three contests and shot over .500 from the floor in St. Thomas' wins over Oakland and Macalester.
IT'S A CHEESEHEAD THING: Green Bay native Sammy Opichka put together her best performance of the season in the Tommies win over the Flames on Sunday. The senior forward scored a season-high 22 points, her first 20+ point performance since March of 2024, on 10-15 shooting, including a 2-5 clip from three-point range. She was also a monster on the boards for St. Thomas in the victory, racking up a team-leading seven rebounds, six defensive, and two blocks. It marks her third multi-block performance of the season, as the Tommies improved to 3-0 when Opichka records two blocks in a game.
BLOCK PARTY: Blocks aren't just Opichka's thing this season. The Tommies currently lead the Summit League in total blocks (38) and blocks per game (4.75) entering Wednesday's contest, and three student-athletes rank in the top-10 in the stat after eight games. Opichka currently leads the conference with nine blocks to average 1.1 a game, while both Faith Feuerbach and Jordyn Lamker rank within in the top-10 in both categories. These three help the Tommies rank second in the Summit League in total defense, as St. Thomas is holding opponents to just 63.4 points per game in 2024-25.
STEALING VICTORIES: Guess who recorded multiple steals in yet another victory for St. Thomas. Phoebe Frentzel. One of the top players on Sinn's bench, Frentzel was credited with three steals in the win over UIC, the 13th multi-steal performance of her career in purple, and recorded at least one steal in four straight games to open the season. Twelve of those 13 performances have occurred in the last two seasons, and Milwaukee was Frentzel's third 4+ steal performance of her career. The Tommies are 8-5 all-time when Frentzel records at least two steals in a game, and 2-1 in her 4+ steal games.
COUNTDOWN TO 400: Ruth Sinn won her 396th game as St. Thomas' head women's basketball coach, bringing her one step closer to 400 career wins. 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.
WINNING BREAKDOWN: While Sinn has never coached a game against Northern Colorado, she's found success against several other teams at the Division I level. Of her 396 career wins, 40 have come against DI opponents in the last four seasons, meaning Sinn won 355 games at the Division III level before leading the Tommies into a new era of Division I basketball. Of those 355 wins, 277 came against MIAC opponents, accounting for 78% of Sinn's victory throughout her career. In total, Sinn has earned 285 wins against conference opponents, both in the MIAC and Summit League.
Wednesday's Big Sky-Summit League Challenge opener could be one of the most exciting games of the season for St. Thomas, which enters the contest riding a three-game win streak since losing back-to-back games to #8 Iowa State and Wichita State in mid-November. The Tommies and Bears are two equally matched teams, both holding opponents to under 65.0 points per game this season with outstanding scorers and offenses to boot. Additionally, St. Thomas has set three Division I era records since opening play on November 4 as Ruth Sinn trickles closer to her 400th career win. Tickets are currently on sale at www.tommiesports.com/tickets.
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 football games along with exclusive Tommie and Pioneer Football League (PFL) content, including replays, highlights, interviews, and special feature stories. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. Fans can also listen to the call on 1500 ESPN and the Varsity Network App and follow Live Stats on TommieSports.com.
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas is officially back to its winning ways, claiming its third consecutive victory on Sunday over UIC to improve to 6-2 this season. The Tommies extinguished in Flames in a thrilling 75-71 win, improving to 4-2 against Division I opponents in 2024-25. St. Thomas saw big scoring performances from five student-athletes, as Sammy Opichka (22), Jade Hill (15), Jo Langbehn (15), Amber Scalia (13) and Alyssa Sand (10) all scored in double-digits in the Tommies victories. Trailing 64-58 with 6:00 left in the fourth quarter, St. Thomas outscored UIC 17-7 in the final minutes of regulation to secure the team's third consecutive victory.
TUNE IN: Women's basketball fans can watch the Tommies on Midco Sports Plus 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. Starting September 3, fans can purchase the Midco Sports All In Package. This package gives fans access to the Summit League Network, CCHA TV and Tommie football games for the cost of $29.99 per month.
THE OPPOSITION: Northern Colorado is off to a red hot start in 2024-25, winning its last four games to improve to 5-2 this season. Key to the Bears success? Defense. Through seven games this season, Northern Colorado has held opponents 58.1 points on a .368 field goal percentage, including a .244 clip from three-point range. The Bears are no slouches on offense either. Northern Colorado is outscoring its opponents by 25.1 margin, averaging 83.3 points per game while shooting .515 from the floor. Their leading scorer, Tatum West, has been lights out, scoring 23 points on 11-12 shooting with five steals and six rebounds.
BEST START EVER (IN DI): St. Thomas is off to its best start in the Division I era, as the team enters Wednesday's contest with a 6-2 record, including a 4-2 mark against DI opponents. It's not just that the Tommies are winning. It's how they're winning that's been impressive. St. Thomas has gritted out some impressive wins, defeating Division I opponents by an average of 6.25 points per game. Division I home games have been especially thrilling for the Tommies. Thanks to fourth quarter comebacks, St. Thomas is 2-0 against DI opponents in Schoenecker Arena, winning both games by four points or less.
BIG SKY-SUMMIT CHALLENGE: The Tommies will take on the Bears as part of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge. For the second year in a row, the Big Sky and Summit League will play for a trophy to claim supremacy in Mid Major basketball. Both men's and women's results will be equally considered from 36 total games, with teams playing both at home and on the road. Whichever conference wins the most contests will be declared the victor, with arm wrestling serving as the final tiebreaker.
CUPPA JO: Fans witnessed two historic moments in Schoenecker Arena on Sunday, as Jo Langbehn and Jade Hill continued to make their mark on Tommie Women's Basketball. Langbehn became the second player in the DI era to score 1000 career points, eclipsing the mark in the third quarter of Sunday's win over UIC. The senior forward is currently averaging 17.4 points per game this season and has 10+ points in seven of eight games. Langbehn's .656 field goal percentage leads the Summit League entering Wednesday's contest, and she ranks sixth in the nation in the same category.
AN APPLE A DAY... : Keeps opponents away. In addition to Langbehn scoring her 1000th career point, Jade Hill made history Sunday afternoon, setting the DI era record for assists in the game. Hill was credited with 11 assists in the victory, the most of any Tommie player since the team made the move to Division I in 2021. The senior and teammate Amber Scalia shared the record previously, with both recorded nine assists in their respective St. Thomas careers. Thanks to her performance on Sunday, Hill now ranks second all-time in career assists, and inches closer to Teri Witcraft's program record of 406.
FEELING HOT HOT HOT!: Scalia got off to a rough start in 2024-25, scoring just seven points in the team's season opener against Milwaukee. Since November 4, the junior guard has scored 10+ points in six of seven games and has been on a tear during the Tommies three game win streak. Over the last three games, Scalia has scored 22, 15 and 13 points respectively, averaging 16.7 during that stretch. She's also shot .500 from three-point range in each of the last three contests and shot over .500 from the floor in St. Thomas' wins over Oakland and Macalester.
IT'S A CHEESEHEAD THING: Green Bay native Sammy Opichka put together her best performance of the season in the Tommies win over the Flames on Sunday. The senior forward scored a season-high 22 points, her first 20+ point performance since March of 2024, on 10-15 shooting, including a 2-5 clip from three-point range. She was also a monster on the boards for St. Thomas in the victory, racking up a team-leading seven rebounds, six defensive, and two blocks. It marks her third multi-block performance of the season, as the Tommies improved to 3-0 when Opichka records two blocks in a game.
BLOCK PARTY: Blocks aren't just Opichka's thing this season. The Tommies currently lead the Summit League in total blocks (38) and blocks per game (4.75) entering Wednesday's contest, and three student-athletes rank in the top-10 in the stat after eight games. Opichka currently leads the conference with nine blocks to average 1.1 a game, while both Faith Feuerbach and Jordyn Lamker rank within in the top-10 in both categories. These three help the Tommies rank second in the Summit League in total defense, as St. Thomas is holding opponents to just 63.4 points per game in 2024-25.
STEALING VICTORIES: Guess who recorded multiple steals in yet another victory for St. Thomas. Phoebe Frentzel. One of the top players on Sinn's bench, Frentzel was credited with three steals in the win over UIC, the 13th multi-steal performance of her career in purple, and recorded at least one steal in four straight games to open the season. Twelve of those 13 performances have occurred in the last two seasons, and Milwaukee was Frentzel's third 4+ steal performance of her career. The Tommies are 8-5 all-time when Frentzel records at least two steals in a game, and 2-1 in her 4+ steal games.
COUNTDOWN TO 400: Ruth Sinn won her 396th game as St. Thomas' head women's basketball coach, bringing her one step closer to 400 career wins. 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.
WINNING BREAKDOWN: While Sinn has never coached a game against Northern Colorado, she's found success against several other teams at the Division I level. Of her 396 career wins, 40 have come against DI opponents in the last four seasons, meaning Sinn won 355 games at the Division III level before leading the Tommies into a new era of Division I basketball. Of those 355 wins, 277 came against MIAC opponents, accounting for 78% of Sinn's victory throughout her career. In total, Sinn has earned 285 wins against conference opponents, both in the MIAC and Summit League.
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