MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — Jenna Dockter’s 3-point shot with eight seconds remaining slid the St. Thomas women’s basketball team past No. 4 Calvin College (Mich.) for a thrilling 64-62 victory Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Cornell College’s Multi-Sport Center.

Unranked St. Thomas (23-5) rallied from a 7-point deficit with a little more than two minutes left for the victory. Next up for St. Thomas is No. 12 Cornell in Saturday’s second-round matchup. Cornell (25-1) defeated St. Scholastica 76-54 in the other first-round game. The Tommies held the Knights (23-4) scoreless over the final 2:07.

Dockter said her game-clinching shot was the result of hours of practice, as the team prepared for moments like this.

“It was so crazy,” Dockter said. “In practice, we always work at situations at the end of the game, so we knew we had practiced this before.”

Dockter tallied 15 points on the night, while forward Taylor Young led St. Thomas with 19. The Tommies ended the Knights’ season for the second year in a row.

The Tommies brought the heat in the first half when forward Anna Smith sank a 3-pointer to pull ahead with a 3-2 lead. Smith contributed six points. Young helped to keep the team surging ahead, making an easy jumper from the paint to push the Tommies to a 5-2 advantage.

Coach Ruth Sinn said the Tommies expected a strong performance from the Knights.

“We’re just very, very happy to get a win against Calvin,” Sinn said. “We knew our hands were going to be full. They’ve got a tremendous, tremendous program and phenomenal players.”

It wasn’t until guard Kellie Ring swished a three that the Tommies lengthened their 9-2 score over the Knights. Ring went on to post 10 points and two rebounds.

But Calvin fought back. Knights’ guard Logan Marsh took matters into her own hands, draining a three to level the score at 11. Teammate guard Kelsey Irwin sank a three of her own, a back-to-back effort pushing the Knights ahead 14-11.

The first half took a turn in Calvin’s favor when Marsh drained a half-court shot at the shot-clock buzzer, giving the Knights a 19-13 advantage.

Guard Carley Emery went up for an easy two in the paint with the Tommies trailing the Knights 26-21. Emery finished with two rebounds.

The half ended with Dockter’s two free throws, pulling the Tommies within three at 31-28.

Young said the team’s strong dynamic energy on the court led to the victory.

“We played really well together and found a way to make it happen,” Young said. “They had great post play on the other end, we just found a way to get it done.”

Despite the Tommies’ deficit heading into the second half, Young helped the team regain the lead when she made an easy shot, putting them ahead 32-31.

Calvin fired back and sank three 3-pointers, two from guard Kelsey Irwin. Irwin’s second three put the Tommies in a 44-39 hole.

Dockter used Calvin’s lead to fuel her fire, stealing the ball from along the sidelines and passing it to teammate guard Kelly Brandenburg who made an easy layup, reducing the team’s deficit to 53-51.

Ring tied the game at 53 when she broke away for an easy layup. Young followed with a game-changing shot when she drained a three, but the Knights still led by four with time running out.

It wasn’t until Dockter’s 3-point shot with eight seconds remaining in the game that the Tommies sealed the deal by a mere two points, 64-62.

Sinn said the team is always looking at what they can do in the next game.

“We can’t control what is behind us but we can learn from it and move on, and I think they really showed that,” Sinn said. “We’re just going to refocus on the task at hand and what we need to do.”

Sean Crotty can be reached at crot0230@stthomas.edu.