Senior guard Maggie Negaard scored 15 points in the St. Thomas women’s basketball team’s 61-35 win over South Carolina State in its home opener Saturday at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (1-1) never trailed the Bulldogs (0-2) in Saturday’s matchup, building on last season’s 65-50 victory in South Carolina.
“I felt like the girls did a really good job executing the game plan and staying to it,” coach Ruth Sinn said.
The Tommies led the Bulldogs 10-7 at the end of the first quarter behind five points from Negaard. Despite the low scoring quarter, the Tommies’ zone defense was able to keep the Bulldogs quiet offensively, forcing 22 turnovers throughout the game.
“Any time you’re doing a defense such as that, you can’t allow direct line passes,” Sinn said. “I think that’s where we were very successful.”
St. Thomas’ defense kept its pace through the second quarter, allowing the Bulldogs only four points. Negaard finished the half with nine points, nearly outscoring the Bulldogs herself in the 20-11 half.
“We’re such good shooters, we put the time in and we deserve those shots,” Negaard said. “If you second guess it, then that’s not helpful for the team, but if you let it fly with confidence, then it’s kind of a momentum switch.”
The second half was more of the same from the Tommies’ defense, but a vast improvement on the offensive side of the ball led to a 28-point third-quarter effort from the Tommies. Leading the charge was first-year guard Amber Scalia with eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“I think after coming out at halftime, we all came together and were like, ‘we need to shoot the ball. We’re having turnovers because we’re not shooting the ball,’” Scalia said.
The Tommies had 12 turnovers throughout the game, an improvement from its 22 on Monday against Northern Iowa.
“We had such a big emphasis on turnovers and we cut it in half,” Scalia said. “I think that’s one of the biggest positives we took out of this game.”
All fifteen players on the Tommies’ roster saw the court, with nine scoring. Sinn believes her deep bench will give the Tommies’ a unique advantage in their coming games.
“I think we understand how to control the game now,” Sinn said. “It’s a ‘What are the pieces that we have and how can we create the advantage with that.’”
The Tommies take on Illinois State in Normal, Illinois, on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.