Junior center Jo Langbehn played through foul trouble to score 14 points for the St. Thomas women’s basketball team in its 78-55 loss to the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies (5-6) may have lost to the Badgers (6-4, 0-1 Big Ten) but the game represented a major stop along the Tommies’ season road map. The Tommies had won two games in a row, and the Badgers had lost two, suggesting that coach Ruth Sinn’s squad was catching the Badgers at the right time.

“We’re excited about having Wisconsin, obviously a Big Ten, come into our gym. We’ve been taking some big steps as far as how we’re playing and what we’re doing,” Sinn said.

Last season in Madison, Langbehn scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the Tommies’ loss to the Badgers, and Wednesday’s game started to look like a repeat performance. Langbehn scored two quick baskets out of the gate for the Tommies.

Langbehn cooled off right when her Badger counterpart — six-foot-four sophomore forward Serah Williams — started to heat up. Williams scored 15 points in the first half and kickstarted a 15-0 run for the Badgers to start the second quarter.

“It felt like in the first quarter, we were kind of going match-for-match and kind of punch-for-punch, and then all of a sudden in that second quarter they had that 15-0 run,” Sinn said.

After their game against Iowa State in November, the Tommies were no strangers to the size and physicality that comes with Power Six match-ups. In fact, Sinn welcomes the tougher competition.

“We didn’t dodge any bullets. Having Iowa State and even Wisconsin come in, there’s a different build. There’s a different athleticism but we really want to be tested,” Sinn said.

The Tommies couldn’t match the Badgers’ muscle and were outrebounded and outscored in the paint. Despite the guard duo of sophomore Amber Scalia and junior Jade Hill chipping in 13 points each, Wisconsin’s lead was insurmountable.

Both Hill and Scalia played over 30 minutes in the game and Sinn said she would look to her bench to give them some needed help.

“Jade handles the ball so well, so does Amber and they’re constantly looking at how to be facilitators for others. And then they also have top defensive assignments and stuff so we’re trying to get them a couple subs here… but that’s a work in progress,” Sinn said.

Langbehn scored 10 points on an efficient six shots in the second half, but foul trouble kept her from stacking up a larger effort to quell the Badger’s scoring surge.

“Basketball is definitely more of a mental game than physical for me. I think being in there, I’d be okay, but it’s the mental lapses I have then getting fouls, stupid fouls, that gets me out,” Langbehn said.

The bleachers of Schoenecker Arena were splattered with Wisconsin red as Badger fans watched sophomore guard and St. Paul native Ronnie Porter dish out five assists and pick the Tommie’s pockets four times.

When the final buzzer rang out, the St. Thomas fans wearing their “Beat Wisconsin” t-shirts filed out, but Sinn was not quite as dejected.

No matter the final score, Sinn said she thinks that her team can learn from their faults and is glad that her team had an opportunity to identify the areas they need to shore up.

“We always talked about kind of getting exposed and so hopefully you get exposed, you learn where are the areas that you have to improve, and then you go out, you make that correction,” Sinn said.

The week before the game, Sinn sat down with TommieMedia to talk about the importance of these games against Wisconsin and Iowa State and what they mean for the future of the program.

This matchup put the Tommies on a grander national stage, which is exposure that Sinn welcomes.

“The Badgers, again, is a Big Ten school that is very reputable,” Sinn said. “I think the neat thing about that is, you get this regional rivalry.”

Sinn elaborated on the rivalry aspect of St. Thomas basketball, hinting at her willingness to play the Minnesota Gophers.

“We’ve always been a state that has only had one Division I program, now we have two Division I programs. Let’s grow the excitement about having the two Division I programs play each other. And that’s what I want,” Sinn said.

Her players want to grow the excitement as well. Scalia wants to see more Tommie fans in Schoenecker Arena but says that increasing attendance ultimately falls on the players to perform.

“I just wish there were more Tommie fans here. I mean, we’re going to keep pushing for it but we need to get these wins,” Scalia said.

Sinn included that scheduling these kinds of games can put St. Thomas on the map for prospective student-athletes. She hopes that the school creates a unique niche for itself in the Division I landscape.

“The uniqueness about our Division I identity is that we are still student-centered, they have not become products,” Sinn said. “So if we can put winning with that, that’s a really neat combination.”

The Tommies will play one final game against the Division III University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point before they begin Summit League play. The game will tip off at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Schoenecker Arena.

“Stevens Point is coming in, and actually they’re undefeated right now. So it’s not like we’re just taking the, you know, the DIII opponents that are not doing well,” Sinn said.

The Tommies’ first game of the season in the Summit League will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29, at home, against North Dakota.

Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.