In a 69-66 season opening win for the Tommies (1-0) where new faces saw the floor for both teams, the intensity was the same between women’s basketball rivals St. Thomas and Bethel (0-1).
Bethel led by 11 points with less than five minutes left, but St. Thomas senior guard Macy Hatlestad and senior forward Kaia Porter, who saw her first game in 440 days after a season-ending knee injury in 2019, carried the Tommies through a tight fourth quarter.
“I’m really, really proud of the leadership,” St. Thomas coach Ruth Sinn said. “And you can’t say much more than Macy and Kaia. They are just quality, quality leaders and people because the way they lead is that they call people up to them.”
Hatlestad hit a wide-open three at 2:26 to put the Tommies up 63-62, countered by two Bethel free throws. Hatlestad and Bethel senior guard Bella Williams traded two pointers before Hatlestad hit both free throws at 1:09.
Bethel senior forward Elizabeth Schwarz missed both free throws with less than a minute left, Porter grabbed the rebound and a composed Hatlestad called a time out to bail Porter out of a trap.
St. Thomas first-year point guard Katelyn Stanley scored her first career points after stealing the ball with 19 seconds left and making both free throws to put the Tommies up three. Bethel’s last-second equalizing attempt sailed right of the basket to end the nail biter.
Stanley, who grabbed four rebounds, made up the Tommies’ young presence with sophomore guard Madi Schirmer, who led all scorers in the first half with 12 and ended with a career high 16.
Hatlestad led all scorers with a career high 26 points, ten of which came during the Tommies’ game-closing 18-4 run; she also led the Tommies with nine rebounds. Porter added 11 points.
“It was fun to see everyone step up and be strong with the ball, put their shoulders up and have that confidence of, all right, come press me,” Hatlestad said. “We’re going to space out, we’re going to do our thing, and you’re not going to speed us up.”
This was no ordinary season opener.
For one thing, there were no fans. Media members, the lone group in attendance, could hear every play call from the masked-up, socially distanced benches. Referees sported masks accommodating their whistles.
For another thing, this was the beginning of a short but pivotal season for both programs. This opener was the Tommies’ last in the MIAC, and the last before they make the historic jump from Division III to Division I in the fall.
The Royals, who played in their usual fast-paced style, played a large rotation, likely testing who would fill the shoes of last season’s senior leaders Taite Andersen, who led the MIAC in scoring at 20.5 points per game, and Haylee Barker.
St. Thomas plays game two of their nine-game schedule against Concordia at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“We’re just so grateful to be even having a chance to play right now,” Porter said. “It’s been such a question of if we would even have a season… if we did, how it would look, and just the fact that we would get to take the court together and be together is, so, so amazing.”
Mia Laube can be reached at mia.laube@stthomas.edu.
Macy Berendsen can be reached at macy.berendsen@stthomas.edu.