St. Thomas falls to Illinois State in D1 home opener
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UPDATE: ST. THOMAS FALLS 70-55 IN HOME OPENER
“It’s a process.” Those were the first words out of St. Thomas Coach Ruth Sinn’s mouth Saturday afternoon in St. Paul following her team’s first-ever home game as members of the NCAA’s top division, a 70-55 defeat at the hands of the Illinois State Redbirds. “This is the first time we get to do this and there’s a lot of learning,” she said. “We understand what we want to do and the identity we want to play to. There were times when we were locked into our identity defensively and moving to the offense and there were other times when we had lapses.”
St. Thomas had a significant case of the jitters early on, quickly surrendering a 10-0 lead. After settling in they did a lot of good work, at one point holding ISU over six minutes without a basket. But, as 5th-year Tommie Kaia Porter put it, there’s not much margin for error in D1. “At this level we can’t have stretches of mistakes or lapses,” said the Roseville product. “We started the first quarter down eight or 10 and it’s so hard to come back at this level. Every team, if they smell blood, if they see that separation, they are going to keep building and make the gap even wider. If we just keep letting teams have those little runs, that stuff is going to kill you… The athletes are bigger, stronger, faster so every little thing has to be sharper and more controlled, and we really need to rely on each other and make sure we are on the same page.”
Freshman Jade Hill, a Minneapolis South graduate, led the Tommies in scoring with 12 points while sophomore Kate Burns (East Ridge) had 11, including four consecutive field goals in the third quarter. Porter and grad student Erin Norling of Delano had 10 points apiece. The game was a great example of the challenges that lie ahead for St. Thomas as newbies in D1, but the importance of what they are doing isn’t lost on any of the players or coaches. “We talk about that all the time,” said Coach Sinn. “Who doesn’t want to be the first? It’s awesome, but it’s also a little scary. There’s no a manual, there’s no a playbook. Nobody has gone from Division 3 to Division 1. But as I keep saying, just watch the progress.”
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PREVIEW: ST. THOMAS MAKES ITS D1 HOME DEBUT ON SATURDAY
Division 1 basketball comes to St. Paul on Saturday night when the University of St. Thomas makes its home debut as a member of the NCAA’s top division. It’s not the first time the Saintly City has played host to such a milestone, though. In fact, the first intercollegiate basketball game of any kind – yes the very first – was played in St. Paul on the campus of Hamline University. A lot has changed since Feb. 9, 1895, and chances are good that Saturday’s encounter between St. Thomas and Illinois State will be a whole lot more entertaining than the 9-6 barnburner between Hamline and the University of Minnesota School of Agriculture was 125 year ago! Here’s what you can expect.
THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Although Saturday’s home opener is a non-conference encounter, the Tommies will be members of the Summit League where they’ll join a bevy of schools most Minnesota sports fans are familiar with. Here’s what the Summit League looks like listed in order of where they rank in the women’s basketball preseason poll.
- South Dakota
- South Dakota State
- North Dakota State
- Missouri-Kansas City
- Denver University
- Oral Roberts
- Western Illinois
- Nebraska-Omaha
- North Dakota
- St. Thomas
HOME-GROWN TALENT
Having the Summit League in our own backyard is going to be terrific for fans of Minnesota girls basketball because we will see so many familiar faces pass through St. Paul. In addition to the 11 Minnesotans on the Tommies’ roster, more than 20 others are featured around the league, including some of the circuit’s biggest stars. This year’s rosters include:
- South Dakota – Liv Korngabel (Rochester Mayo), Hannah Sjerven (Rogers), Macy Guebert (Eastview), Natalie Mazurek (Eden Prairie), Cassidy Carson (Eastview)
- South Dakota State – Lindsey Theuninck (Mankato Loyola), Tori Nelson (Henry Sibley), Kallie Theisen (Wayzata), Paige Meyer (Albany)
- North Dakota State – Heaven Hamling (Grand Rapids), Abby Schulte (Maple Grove), Ellie Dague (Henning)
- North Dakota – Jolene Daninger (Andover), Claire Orth (Centennial), Olivia Lane (Pequot Lakes), Kacie Borowicz (Roseau), Jodi Anderson (Centennial), Erika Lane (Brainerd)
- Nebraska-Omaha – Lauren Frost (Park Center), Alexis Pratt (Stillwater)
- Kansas City – Tamia Ugass (Roseville)
Minnesotans already committed in the Summit League for 2022 include Madison Mathiowetz Madison Mathiowetz 5'10" | CG Sleepy Eye St. Mary's | 2022 State MN (Sleepy Eye-St. Mary’s) and Ellie Colbeck Ellie Colbeck 5'9" | PG Fergus Falls | 2022 State MN (Fergus Falls) to SDSU, Amber Scalia Amber Scalia 5'9" | CG Stillwater | 2022 State MN (Stillwater) to St. Thomas and Mikayla Aumer Mikayla Aumer 5'9" | CG Cambridge-Isanti | 2022 State MN (Cambridge-Isanti) to North Dakota. In the 2023 class, Zoey Washington Zoey Washington 5'9" | CG St. Croix Lutheran | 2023 State MN (Mahtomedi) has committed to St. Thomas and Taryn Hamling Taryn Hamling 5'9" | PG Grand Rapids | 2023 State MN (Grand Rapids) has said ‘yes’ to NDSU. There will likely be a few more 23s before it’s all said and done.
TOMMIES TO WATCH
St. Thomas opened its D1 era on Wednesday night in Madison where they fell 67-51 to the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big 10. The opener gave us a pretty good idea of who will be at the heart of the lineup for Coach Ruth Sinn’s Tommies. The starting lineup looked like this:
- #22 Erin Norling – 5’11 grad forward, Delano (Wayne State transfer)
- #32 Kaia Porter – 5’11 grad guard, Roseville
- #23 Maggie Negaard – 5’10 senior guard, Stevens Point, WI (Drake transfer)
- #35 Kate Burns – 6’2 sophomore center, East Ridge
- #4 Jade Hill – 5’6 freshman guard, Minneapolis South
Norling had a really good game, posting 15 points and 6 rebounds in 33 minutes. It was her first contest in Division 1, but as a highly-regarded D2 veteran her lofty standard of play came as no surprise. Erin will be a key piece for the Tommies. The same would apply to Negaard, a seasoned vet who played D1 at Drake before transferring to UST. Porter is a 5th-year leader for St. Thomas, a mainstay from the D3 era as is Burns who went into the history books by scoring the first ever points for UST on Wednesday. The freshman Hill got stronger as the game went along as she adapted to the pace and started to assert herself down the stretch. Jade was a Top 10 prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2021.
The other newcomer who acquitted herself very well on Wednesday is 6’2 center Jo Langbehn out of Elk River, a Top 30 prospect who looked right at home in Madison. She was calm and poised and did some really nice work down low. In 22 minutes of action she went 4-for-6 from the field, had four rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal. Not bad.
A pair of D1 veterans also made significant contributions on Wednesday. 5’9 senior guard Amanda Pollard of Champlin Park is a transfer from Wagner. Noelle Tomes, a 5’8 senior guard out of East Ridge, transferred to St. Thomas after beginning her collegiate career at Air Force. Junior Jordyn Glynn also saw action and the 5’9 guard from Grand Meadow made her presence felt. One more player to note is 6-foot forward Jordyn Lamker of Maple Grove. She made only a brief appearance in the opener but Lamker was a Top 15 prospect in the 2021 class and will be an impact player going forward. The other Minnesotans are junior Abby Mackenthun of Norwood-Young America and sophomore Brynn Schwanz of Eastview.
HOW GOOD WILL THEY BE?
It’s not easy to define what success is when you are a brand new program joining an established league. Let’s just say the Tommies have a big challenge ahead of them. After watching the way Sinn’s team played in the opener, however, UST might be better prepared for the higher level of competition than many would expect.
St. Thomas quickly settled into a rhythm against the Badgers. They were organized and assertive, pushed the pace and had Wisconsin on their heels early. When Neegaard buried a three-pointer just over six minutes into the game the Tommies were ahead 11-6. The Tommies were forcing Wisconsin deep into every possession before they could get a shot off. It took a bucket at the buzzer for Wisconsin to pull ahead after one quarter 14-13. Then reality struck in the second period as Wisconsin’s 2-3 zone gave St. Thomas fits and the Tommies were ice-cold from beyond the arc. By halftime UST was down by 14. The second half was basically a dead heat. St. Thomas was within 10 with under four minutes left but the Badgers, behind 29 points from freshman Krystyna Ellew, pulled away at the end. It may have been a loss but St. Thomas definitely exceeded expectations.
How will they do in the Summit League itself? Time will tell, of course, but it’s a tough circuit in which to excel. South Dakota and South Dakota State are among the very best mid-major programs in the country, and NDSU is coming off an outstanding season. Omaha and Kansas City are both much-improved, and North Dakota will be better this year, too.
St. Thomas does have some inherent advantages over a typical newcomer, however. First, they are an established program, albeit at another level. The program has a brand, an established style of play, and a way of doing things that has been very successful. That will all translate over to D1. Second, they are located in one of the hottest markets in the country for mid-major talent. Minnesotans have been flocking to other Summit League programs for years. UST should be able to keep some of those kids home. And third, St. Thomas appears to have deep pockets and a genuine commitment to be successful in this new environment. Years one, two and three might be challenging but long term there is no reason why St. Thomas cannot be a Summit League standout.
2021-22 HOME SCHEDULE
- Saturday, Nov. 13 – Illinois State
- Wednesday, Dec. 1 – Northern Iowa
- Saturday, Dec. 11 – Idaho State
- Wednesday, Dec. 15 – Northland College
- Monday, Dec. 20 – Omaha
- Wednesday, Dec. 22 – Denver
- Wednesday, Dec. 29 – Upper Iowa
- Thursday, Jan. 13 – North Dakota State
- Saturday, Jan. 15 – North Dakota
- Saturday, Jan. 29 – Western Illinois
- Thursday, Feb. 3 – Kansas City
- Saturday, Feb. 5 – Oral Roberts
- Thursday, Feb. 17 – South Dakota
- Saturday, Feb. 19 – South Dakota State
For more information on the program visit tommiesports.com.