Women’s Basketball
Stand-out women’s basketball returning forward Taylor Young reached 1,000 career points Saturday and became the 10th woman in program history to do so.
Young ended the 2012-2013 season with 981 points and scored in the double digits in two contests to bring her total to 1,010 points.
Despite 17 points and four assists from forward Anna Smith, the No. 5-ranked women’s basketball team (1-1) fell to Whitman 77-76 in Friday’s season opener.
Whitman was an Elite Eight playoff team last March and had several returning starters, a strength coach Ruth Sinn said Whitman and St. Thomas share.
“From last year’s roster, we are returning 10 players who averaged in double-figure minutes, so we’re bringing back a wealth of experience,” Sinn said.
Whitman shot 63 percent from the field in the second half. St. Thomas shot 48 percent from the floor and was perfect on 15 second-half free throw attempts.
“The thing that hurt us last year was our inconsistency, and this is an area that we really focused on this year, being consistent night after night,” Sinn said. “Offensively, with our execution and defensively, with our purpose.”
The Tommies held an 11-point lead in the final seven minutes, and led by five with nearly two minutes remaining. However, the Missionaries went on an 8-2 run in the final two minutes to edge the Tommies for the one-point win.
“I think we all know that we have that one goal, and everyone has bought into that,” guard Beth Wittry said. “Our seniors have done a really good job of bringing everyone together.”
St. Thomas squared off against Whitworth, Saturday. The Tommies downed the Pirates 76-61. Center Maggie Weiers led St. Thomas with 25 points and 16 rebounds. The Tommies shot more than 53 percent from the field, and out-rebounded the Pirates 43-25.
“We’re really excited about this season and the opportunities we have offensively,” Sinn said. “Seventy-six and 75 (per game) point production is pretty exciting that we can be putting up those numbers. The outlook for this season is very promising.”
The women face Wisconsin-Stevens Point on the road on Thursday.
Men’s Basketball
Forward Conner Nord led the St. Thomas men’s basketball in scoring this weekend as the No. 15-ranked St. Thomas men’s basketball team split a weekend series in Claremont, Calif.
The Tommies dropped a 80-77 decision to Pomona-Pitzer in Friday’s season opener and topped Occidental College 82-65 Saturday.
The Tommies were 11-28 shooting in the first half against Pomona-Pitzer and were 0-8 from behind the 3-point line. The Tommies trailed by nine at halftime.
St. Thomas went on a 16-8 run in the final five minutes of the game but failed to convert a potentially game-tying possession in the final eight seconds. Pomona-Pitzer squeaked by with the win, handing the Tommies their first loss.
In the team’s next game against Occidental College Saturday, the Tommies outshot the Tigers 43.3 percent to 39.6 from the field. Leading scorer, guard Marcus Alipate, racked up 18 of the team’s 82 total points on the night.
Nord and guard Erik Tengwall posted seven rebounds apiece, as the Tommies topped the Tigers 45 to 27 in rebounds.
Forward Josh Pella said the team didn’t perform up to its expectations on the weekend.
“We came out a little rusty and didn’t play defense to our expectations,” Pella said. “Our man-to-man defense was off.”
The Tommies will take the road Saturday to square off against Wisconsin-River Falls.