University of St. Thomas Athletics
14-14,6-8Summit League
South Dakota State
22-5,14-0Summit League
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Jackrabbits run away with 97-63 win over Tommies
2/24/2024 3:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The University of St. Thomas women's basketball team faced the Summit League leaders in South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon. Coming into the game undefeated in conference play, the Tommies were tasked with taking on the No. 1 team in the last home game of the 2023-2024 season. While St. Thomas put up a valient effort on the offensive end, SDSU shot 67.9 percent from the field, as the Jackrabbits ran away with a 97-63 victory. With the loss, the Tommies are now 14-14 overall and 6-8 in Summit League play.
RECAP
St. Thomas hung with the firepower of SDSU to open the game, being down only four points, 15-11, in the first six minutes of play. Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) and Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Notre Dame Academy) kicked off the scoring efforts for the Purple, scoring seven of the first 11 points for the Toms. A 3-pointer by Amber Scalia (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater) and a jumper by Faith Feuerbach (Sycamore, Ill. / Sycamore) closed the quarter with the Tommies trailing 25-20.
South Dakota State started off the second quarter red hot, going on a 7-0 run before free throws by Langbehn halting the Kackrabbits scoring streak. Back-to-back layups from Angelina Hammond (Hopkins, Minn. / Hopkins) and Opichka brought the deficit down to 10 points, 36-26, with 6:02 left in the half. South Dakota State remained hot in the closing minutes, and St. Thomas found itself down 52-33 heading into the break.
Coming out of halftime, the Toms and Jackrabbits traded baskets for much of the opening five minutes, with Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) and Langbehn scoring six of the first eight Tommie points to open the second half. After 30 minutes of play, the Tommies trailed 73-47 with 10 minutes of play remaining in the ball game.
A jumper by Opichka with 7:51 remaining marked the Toms first basket of the fourth quarter as she recorded six of the team's first eight points. Despite, St. Thomas' offensive efforts, the team did not make a comeback, falling by a final score of 97-63 to the defending Summit League champions.
TOP TOMMIES
-
Sammy Opichka (Green Bay, Wis. / Notre Dame Academy) led St. Thomas in scoring, tallying 15 points on 7-11 shooting. She also recorded a steal and a block along with three assists in the contest.
-
Jo Langbehn (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) added 10 points in the loss, going 4-of-7 from the field, while recording three rebounds and two assists.
-
Jade Hill (Minneapolis, Minn. / South) led the team with six assists and two steals, in addition to 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Ruth Sinn following Saturday's loss to South Dakota State:
"Great atmosphere today, thanks to everyone that came out and supported us. I give lots of credit to South Dakota State, hats off to them, and we know the next steps we have to take. We knew this stretch was going to be tough, but we can grow from these experiences against these skilled opponents and are hoping to use this as a learning tool for making future adjustments to become stronger."
UP NEXT
St. Thomas will travel to Omaha, Nebraska in its final stretch of the 2023-2024 season to take on the Omaha Mavericks (6-22, 2-13) at Baxter Arena on Thursday, February 29. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT with the Toms looking to halt a 5-game losing streak in one of their final road games before the Summit League Tournament.
