University of St. Thomas Athletics
Wednesday, January 22
St. Paul, Minn.
7:00 p.m. CT
vs
South Dakota State
Photo by: Kylie Macziewski
Tommies return home to host (RV) SDSU, Denver
1/21/2025 9:28:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It's a big week for the University of St. Thomas women's basketball team. After three consecutive games on the road, the Tommies return to Schoenecker Arena for their next slate of Summit League games, including a match up with the conference's perennial power South Dakota State. Recently receiving votes in the latest AP Top-25 poll, St. Thomas will host the Jackrabbits Wednesday evening before Denver comes to town on Saturday, January 25.
Fans will have a chance to witness history in Schoenecker Arena. Thanks to the Tommies win over Omaha last week, head coach Ruth Sinn now owns an all-time record of 399-151 and is one victory away from #400. With a win over SDSU or Denver, Sinn would become the first female coach in department history to reach the milestone and would join Steve Fritz, Dennis Denning, John Tschida and Thanh Pham as the only coaches to do so in program history.
Additionally, fans can get in on multiple ticket deals for the game vs. the Pioneers as it is part of St. Thomas' Family 4 Pack promotion. For the low price of $45, fans will receive four tickets to the game against Denver along with four food vouchers, four drinks of their choice and one St. Thomas branded cooler. Family 4 Pack and tickets for this weekend's contests can be purchased at www.tommiesports.com/tickets. The Tommies will also celebrate Alumni Day prior to and throughout Saturday's contest.
Tipoff on Wednesday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota, while Saturday's game is slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. Fans who are unable to attend in person can watch both games on The Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus and the Midco Sports Plus App. Saturday's game against the Bison will also air on FOX9+, and live stats will be available on tommiesports.com. Fans can additionally follow the Tommies on social media (@tommiewbball) for live updates.
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas officially has its first win in Summit League play. After an 0-4 start against conference foes, the Tommies defeated Omaha 67-53 on Saturday, improving to 1-4 and snapping a four-game losing streak in the process. A well-balanced attack and tenacious defense led St. Thomas to victory on Saturday, as four different Tommies scored 10+ points in the victory. Jo Langbehn led the way with 18 points for St. Thomas, while Jade Hill (13), Alyssa Sand (12) and Amber Scalia (10) all contributed to the Tommies offensive efforts. It was the defense, though, that truly led St. Thomas to victory. After Omaha pulled within six with 4:49 remaining in regulation, the Tommies did not allow the Mavericks to score another point, as Omaha committed six turnovers and went 0-4 from the floor in the final five minutes of play.
THE OPPOSITION: South Dakota State is good. Like really good. Like the Jackrabbits are one of the top basketball teams in the nation, receiving votes in the latest AP Top-25 poll. They are also the No. 1 team in collegeinsider.com's Mid-Major Top-25 poll thanks to wins over #20/21 Creighton, Wisconsin, #21/RV Oregon, (RV) Ball State, Rice and Northern Iowa this season. SDSU also hosted #16 Duke at First Bank and Trust Arena in mid-November, giving the nationally ranked Blue Devils a run for their money, and lost to #6 Texas on the road. Certainly the Jackrabbits are battle tested and off to a 5-0 start in conference play thanks to a well-balanced scoring attack and absolutely stifling defense (but more on that later).
AN APPLE A DAY: Helps Jade Hill break one of the longest standing program records. The senior recorded her fifth consecutive 4+ assist game in Thursday's loss to Oral Roberts and broke Teri Witcarft's record of 406 career assists. Now with 411 helpers in her career, Hill is the first Tommie to not only set a DI record but break a program record as well and is just the second women's basketball player in program history to record 400+ assists in her career. Witcraft and Hill are the only Tommies credited with over 400 career assists and are two of five St. Thomas student-athletes to record 300+ in their respective careers. Also top-10 in career assists? Head coach Ruth Sinn, who ranks eighth all-time with 272.
COUNTDOWN TO 400: Thanks to Saturday's win, head coach Ruth Sinn is now one away from #400, a mark she has been chasing for most of the 2024-25 season. Thanks to her 399-151 record, Sinn is already the winningest coach in Tommie Women's Basketball history and would join Steve Fritz as the only two basketball coaches in the department's history with 400 career wins. She would also be the first female head coach to win over 400 career games at St. Thomas and the second head coach of a women's program to reach the mark.
MILESTONE WATCH: Jade Hill and Ruth Sinn aren't the only Tommies approaching milestones this season. Thanks to her performances against Oral Roberts and Omaha last week, Amber Scalia eclipsed the 900 point threshold, becoming the third St. Thomas student-athlete in the DI reach the mark. If she continues to score 10+ points per game in Summit League play, Scalia could easily become the third player in the past two seasons to score 1000 career points for the Tommies and is on pace to potentially reach the milestone in six games.
YOU CAN'T CATCH US: Remember that stifling defense we mentioned on page one? Entering Wednesday's contest, SDSU is holding opponents to an average of 63.8 points per game, which is, actually, high for the Jackrabbits. The past two seasons, SDSU has held its opponents to roughly 60.4 points per game, and let's not even mention the 2021-22 season. The Jackrabbits allowed their opponents to score just 58.4 points per game that season and won the WNIT Championship on the backs of the defense. So yes, 63.8 points per game is high for an SDSU defense; however, the Jackrabbits are much more balanced on offense. Entering Thursday's game, four different players are averaging 10.0+ points against Summit League foes, including Brooklyn Meyer, who is averaging 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds entering Wednesday's game.
WHERE ARE YOU OFFENSE?: Scoring has been an issue for St. Thomas in its previous seven meetings with SDSU. In seven meetings, the Tommies are averaging just 53.4 points per game against the Summit League's perennial power, though they did score the most points every against the Jackrabbits last season. St. Thomas scored 63 points in a loss at Schoenecker Arena February 24, the most the program has ever scored in a game against SDSU. Sammy Opichka led the Tommies scoring efforts in the loss with 15, while Hill and Jo Langbehn were limited to just 10 points each.
CAN'T MISS BASKETBALL (LITERALLY): Wednesday's basketball game will feature two of the top shooters in the Summit League this season: Jo Langbehn and Brooklyn Meyer. For the past two seasons, the two have duked it out for the top shooting percentage in the conference, with Langbehn leading the way entering the upcoming week. Thanks to another stellar weekend at Oral Roberts and Omaha, Langbehn is currently shooting .630 from the floor in 2024-25, while Meyer is shooting .609. Both rank toward the top of the nation in the category as well. Entering the weekend, Langbehn's .630 ranks seventh in the nation, while Meyer ranks 13th in all of Division I.
MONKEY OFF THEIR BACKS?: Good news! St. Thomas has scored 10+ points in the second quarter in four consecutive games. Bad news: the Tommies were outscored by their opponent in all four games. Even in conference play, St. Thomas continues to struggle in the second quarter of play, scoring just 14 points in the loss to Oral Roberts on Thursday and 10 in the win over Omaha on Saturday. It continues a streak St. Thomas is all too familiar with. Since outscoring Eastern Michigan 26-18 in late December, the Tommies have yet to outscore a Summit League opponent in the second quarter this season. Entering Wednesday's game, the Tommies have outscored a Division I opponent just twice in the second quarter and never in back-to-back games.
OH NO PIOS!: St. Thomas will also host Denver on Saturday, the last 0-for team in the Summit League. Entering the weekend, the Pioneers are 0-6 in conference play, having opened their Summit League schedule with six consecutive losses to South Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Kansas City and Oral Roberts. However, it's not as though Denver is being blown out in these contests. Excluding their loss to Jackrabbits, the Pioneers are only being outscored 367-329 by Summit League opponents and have lost all but one conference game by fewer than 10 points.
SANDS OF TIME: Don't look now, but Alyssa Sand just recorded her second 10+ point performance in three games. Since joining the starting lineup against South Dakota on January 9, Sand is averaging 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and is one of just the fourth true freshman to start for head coach Ruth Sinn in the DI era. She is also the only true freshman to score double-digit points in her first collegiate start, tallying a career-high 15 in the loss to the Coyotes on January 9. The only other Tommies to even start as true freshmen: Jade Hill (5 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists), Faith Feuerbach (3/1/0), Sammy Opichka (2/2/3) and Jo Langbehn (9/4/0). Not even Amber Scalia started as a true freshman for Sinn, making her first collegiate start as a sophomore last season.
Fans will have a chance to witness history in Schoenecker Arena. Thanks to the Tommies win over Omaha last week, head coach Ruth Sinn now owns an all-time record of 399-151 and is one victory away from #400. With a win over SDSU or Denver, Sinn would become the first female coach in department history to reach the milestone and would join Steve Fritz, Dennis Denning, John Tschida and Thanh Pham as the only coaches to do so in program history.
Additionally, fans can get in on multiple ticket deals for the game vs. the Pioneers as it is part of St. Thomas' Family 4 Pack promotion. For the low price of $45, fans will receive four tickets to the game against Denver along with four food vouchers, four drinks of their choice and one St. Thomas branded cooler. Family 4 Pack and tickets for this weekend's contests can be purchased at www.tommiesports.com/tickets. The Tommies will also celebrate Alumni Day prior to and throughout Saturday's contest.
Tipoff on Wednesday is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota, while Saturday's game is slated to begin at 12:00 p.m. Fans who are unable to attend in person can watch both games on The Summit League Network through Midco Sports Plus and the Midco Sports Plus App. Saturday's game against the Bison will also air on FOX9+, and live stats will be available on tommiesports.com. Fans can additionally follow the Tommies on social media (@tommiewbball) for live updates.
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas officially has its first win in Summit League play. After an 0-4 start against conference foes, the Tommies defeated Omaha 67-53 on Saturday, improving to 1-4 and snapping a four-game losing streak in the process. A well-balanced attack and tenacious defense led St. Thomas to victory on Saturday, as four different Tommies scored 10+ points in the victory. Jo Langbehn led the way with 18 points for St. Thomas, while Jade Hill (13), Alyssa Sand (12) and Amber Scalia (10) all contributed to the Tommies offensive efforts. It was the defense, though, that truly led St. Thomas to victory. After Omaha pulled within six with 4:49 remaining in regulation, the Tommies did not allow the Mavericks to score another point, as Omaha committed six turnovers and went 0-4 from the floor in the final five minutes of play.
THE OPPOSITION: South Dakota State is good. Like really good. Like the Jackrabbits are one of the top basketball teams in the nation, receiving votes in the latest AP Top-25 poll. They are also the No. 1 team in collegeinsider.com's Mid-Major Top-25 poll thanks to wins over #20/21 Creighton, Wisconsin, #21/RV Oregon, (RV) Ball State, Rice and Northern Iowa this season. SDSU also hosted #16 Duke at First Bank and Trust Arena in mid-November, giving the nationally ranked Blue Devils a run for their money, and lost to #6 Texas on the road. Certainly the Jackrabbits are battle tested and off to a 5-0 start in conference play thanks to a well-balanced scoring attack and absolutely stifling defense (but more on that later).
AN APPLE A DAY: Helps Jade Hill break one of the longest standing program records. The senior recorded her fifth consecutive 4+ assist game in Thursday's loss to Oral Roberts and broke Teri Witcarft's record of 406 career assists. Now with 411 helpers in her career, Hill is the first Tommie to not only set a DI record but break a program record as well and is just the second women's basketball player in program history to record 400+ assists in her career. Witcraft and Hill are the only Tommies credited with over 400 career assists and are two of five St. Thomas student-athletes to record 300+ in their respective careers. Also top-10 in career assists? Head coach Ruth Sinn, who ranks eighth all-time with 272.
COUNTDOWN TO 400: Thanks to Saturday's win, head coach Ruth Sinn is now one away from #400, a mark she has been chasing for most of the 2024-25 season. Thanks to her 399-151 record, Sinn is already the winningest coach in Tommie Women's Basketball history and would join Steve Fritz as the only two basketball coaches in the department's history with 400 career wins. She would also be the first female head coach to win over 400 career games at St. Thomas and the second head coach of a women's program to reach the mark.
MILESTONE WATCH: Jade Hill and Ruth Sinn aren't the only Tommies approaching milestones this season. Thanks to her performances against Oral Roberts and Omaha last week, Amber Scalia eclipsed the 900 point threshold, becoming the third St. Thomas student-athlete in the DI reach the mark. If she continues to score 10+ points per game in Summit League play, Scalia could easily become the third player in the past two seasons to score 1000 career points for the Tommies and is on pace to potentially reach the milestone in six games.
YOU CAN'T CATCH US: Remember that stifling defense we mentioned on page one? Entering Wednesday's contest, SDSU is holding opponents to an average of 63.8 points per game, which is, actually, high for the Jackrabbits. The past two seasons, SDSU has held its opponents to roughly 60.4 points per game, and let's not even mention the 2021-22 season. The Jackrabbits allowed their opponents to score just 58.4 points per game that season and won the WNIT Championship on the backs of the defense. So yes, 63.8 points per game is high for an SDSU defense; however, the Jackrabbits are much more balanced on offense. Entering Thursday's game, four different players are averaging 10.0+ points against Summit League foes, including Brooklyn Meyer, who is averaging 18.0 points and 6.8 rebounds entering Wednesday's game.
WHERE ARE YOU OFFENSE?: Scoring has been an issue for St. Thomas in its previous seven meetings with SDSU. In seven meetings, the Tommies are averaging just 53.4 points per game against the Summit League's perennial power, though they did score the most points every against the Jackrabbits last season. St. Thomas scored 63 points in a loss at Schoenecker Arena February 24, the most the program has ever scored in a game against SDSU. Sammy Opichka led the Tommies scoring efforts in the loss with 15, while Hill and Jo Langbehn were limited to just 10 points each.
CAN'T MISS BASKETBALL (LITERALLY): Wednesday's basketball game will feature two of the top shooters in the Summit League this season: Jo Langbehn and Brooklyn Meyer. For the past two seasons, the two have duked it out for the top shooting percentage in the conference, with Langbehn leading the way entering the upcoming week. Thanks to another stellar weekend at Oral Roberts and Omaha, Langbehn is currently shooting .630 from the floor in 2024-25, while Meyer is shooting .609. Both rank toward the top of the nation in the category as well. Entering the weekend, Langbehn's .630 ranks seventh in the nation, while Meyer ranks 13th in all of Division I.
MONKEY OFF THEIR BACKS?: Good news! St. Thomas has scored 10+ points in the second quarter in four consecutive games. Bad news: the Tommies were outscored by their opponent in all four games. Even in conference play, St. Thomas continues to struggle in the second quarter of play, scoring just 14 points in the loss to Oral Roberts on Thursday and 10 in the win over Omaha on Saturday. It continues a streak St. Thomas is all too familiar with. Since outscoring Eastern Michigan 26-18 in late December, the Tommies have yet to outscore a Summit League opponent in the second quarter this season. Entering Wednesday's game, the Tommies have outscored a Division I opponent just twice in the second quarter and never in back-to-back games.
OH NO PIOS!: St. Thomas will also host Denver on Saturday, the last 0-for team in the Summit League. Entering the weekend, the Pioneers are 0-6 in conference play, having opened their Summit League schedule with six consecutive losses to South Dakota, South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Kansas City and Oral Roberts. However, it's not as though Denver is being blown out in these contests. Excluding their loss to Jackrabbits, the Pioneers are only being outscored 367-329 by Summit League opponents and have lost all but one conference game by fewer than 10 points.
SANDS OF TIME: Don't look now, but Alyssa Sand just recorded her second 10+ point performance in three games. Since joining the starting lineup against South Dakota on January 9, Sand is averaging 10.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game and is one of just the fourth true freshman to start for head coach Ruth Sinn in the DI era. She is also the only true freshman to score double-digit points in her first collegiate start, tallying a career-high 15 in the loss to the Coyotes on January 9. The only other Tommies to even start as true freshmen: Jade Hill (5 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists), Faith Feuerbach (3/1/0), Sammy Opichka (2/2/3) and Jo Langbehn (9/4/0). Not even Amber Scalia started as a true freshman for Sinn, making her first collegiate start as a sophomore last season.
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