University of St. Thomas Athletics
South Dakota
Tommies set for rematch with Coyotes
2/15/2024 3:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball
South Dakota defeated St. Thomas 63-61 in mid-January
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It's a big weekend for the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. After suffering two disappointing losses to Oral Roberts and Denver, the Tommies look to get back on the winning track in a big way, as they trek to Vermillion, South Dakota to take on the University of South Dakota. It will be a key rematch for St. Thomas, which currently sits in fifth in the Summit League standings with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Tommies will enjoy an off night on Thursday before embarking on their second to last road trip of the 2023-24 regular season. St. Thomas is starved for road wins in Summit League play, posting a 2-3 record in conference road games this season. However, Saturday's game will be extremely significant in the Summit League standings. Entering Thursday's games, South Dakota sits in fourth place with a 6-4 record, and the Tommies are one place behind in fifth at 6-5. Back-to-back losses for South Dakota would vault St. Thomas into fourth place and a win on Saturday for the Tommies would equal their conference win total from 2022-23.
Saturday's game will air on the Summit League Network, and live stats will be available on South Dakota's athletic website. 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 OUTSt. Thomas suffered back-to-back Summit League losses in the same week for the first time this season, dropping Saturday's contest against Denver 67-61. After a back-and-forth first half, in which the Tommies rallied from a 7-0 deficit, it looked like everything was under control midway through the third. St. Thomas held a 46-38 lead and was in command on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. However, fouls and turnovers proved costly for the Tommies, as the Pioneers rallied to cut the lead to 50-48 entering the fourth and final quarter. Denver would then outscore St. Thomas 19-11 in the final 10 minutes of play, as the Tommies shot just 2-16 (.125) from the floor in the quarter. St. Thomas was also 2-19 from three-point range in the game, though the team did convert 17 of 18 attempts from the free throw line.
THE OPPOSITION: South Dakota has been on a tear as of late, winning four of its last five games, with the team's only loss coming at the hands of top-ranked South Dakota State. In fact, since the Coyotes beat St. Thomas on January 18, South Dakota has only lost to the Jackrabbits and has scored wins against Denver, Kansas City and North Dakota. However, the Coyotes are just 1-4 against top-5 teams in the Summit League this season, and their lone win was the buzzer beater against the Tommies in mid-January. Other than that win, South Dakota is a combined 0-4 against South Dakota State, North Dakota State and Oral Roberts and has yet to play both teams on the road.
AT THE BUZZER: St. Thomas fans would like to forget the last meeting between these two teams. The Tommies lead by as many as 13 points, jumping out to a 39-26 lead over the Coyotes midway through the third quarter. However, South Dakota crawled its way back in the game, using a stingy press defense and red-hot shooting from the perimeter to cut the St. Thomas lead to 51-50 in the fourth quarter. For the final four minutes, it was a back and forth affair between the two teams, until the Coyotes took a 61-59 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the game. Jo Langbehn tied things up at 61-61 and it looked like the Tommies were set to secure their victory with the final possession of the game. That's not how things played out. Jade Hill missed a three from the corner, and South Dakota came up with the rebound, giving the Coyotes a chance to win the game with .4 seconds on the clock. That is just what the visitor's did. Tori DePerry's layup beat the final buzzer, securing the 63-61 win for South Dakota.
TWO IN A ROW: St. Thomas has yet to lose three consecutive games in Summit League play. The Tommies lost back-to-back games to South Dakota and NDSU in late January before beating North Dakota to stop the skid. The team's longest losing streak is four games in nonconference play.
LIMITING LARKINS: The Tommies did a good job limiting the Coyotes top scorer, Grace Larkins, in the first meeting between the two teams. St. Thomas' defense held the No. 3 scorer in the Summit League to 10 points on 3-6 shooting, and she scored four points from the charity stripe. It's the second lowest point total for the junior in Summit League play this season, who only scored eight in a win over Denver one week later.
ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON: In addition to holding Larkins to 10 points back in January, the Tommies only allowed three Coyotes to score in double figures. Unfortunately, one of those three individuals was sharp shooter Kendall Holmes. The junior transfer from DePaul shot lights out in the second half, going 5-8 from beyond the arc and 7-14 from the floor in the victory. In fact, Holmes scored eight of South Dakota's 10 points in a five minute span from the third to fourth quarter, helping spur the Coyotes late rally against St. Thomas. She closed the game with a team-leading 19 points.
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.
LONG ROAD HOME: It's already been an impressive season for the Tommies, who surpassed their win total from the 2022-23 season with their win over Omaha earlier this season. However, of those 14 wins, eight have occurred in the comforts of Schoenecker Arena, and St. Thomas has only mustered two road wins in Summit League play this season. The Tommies are just 2-3 in conference road games this season, though their three losses are against the top-3 teams in the Summit League standings (SDSU, NDSU, Oral Roberts).
OFF DAY: There must have been something in the air in Schoenecker Arena on Saturday when St. Thomas hosted Denver. The team shot a season low .105 from beyond the arc, as Amber Scalia, Jade Hill and Jordyn Glynn shot a combined 1-12 from three-point range against the Pioneers. It was a particularly rough day for Scalia, as she went 0-6 from beyond the arc, breaking her streak of 24 consecutive games with at least one made three. She still closed the game with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
DEFENSIVE BATTLE: Saturday's game will feature two of the best defenses in the Summit League this season. In conference play, South Dakota is holding opponents to 68.3 points per game and ranks third in the Summit in scoring defense. St. Thomas ranks fourth and is holding opponents to 70.8 points through 11 conference games this season. However, there's a bit of a discrepancy when it comes to steals and blocks between the two teams. The Tommies rank second in the conference in steals (95) and blocks (36) through 11 Summit League games this season. The Coyotes, on the other hand, rank dead last in the conference in total steals, collecting just 54 through 10 Summit League games. They do rank fourth in blocks (30).
FREE POINTS!: Free throws could determine Saturday's game, which is fine, since St. Thomas and South Dakota are two of the best free throw shooting teams in the conference. The Coyotes lead the Summit league with a .772 free throw shooting percentage this season, converting 139 of their 180 attempts in conference play this season. The Tommies, meanwhile, rank third, as they've converted 152 of 203 chances for a .749 percentage. South Dakota, though, is the only team with multiple perfect performances from the charity stripe. The Coyotes went 18-18 from the free throw line in a loss to Oral Roberts on January 11 and 15-15 in a loss to South Dakota State on February 3.
Of note: South Dakota went 8-11 from the line in the win over St. Thomas on January 18. Both the Tommies and Coyotes have shot under .700 from the charity stripe six times this season.
