Junior guard Jade Hill’s 10 points and six assists couldn’t keep South Dakota State from running away with the game 97-63 Saturday at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (14-14, 6-8 Summit) collided with the conference-leading Jackrabbits (22-5, 14-0 Summit) and were handed their fifth loss in a row, and their second in a row by more than 30 points. The Jackrabbits remained undefeated in Summit League play and continued their 16-game win streak that stretches into December.
“I give a lot of credits to SDSU. I mean, they are at the top of the league because they do the little things right,” coach Ruth Sinn said.
The loss keeps the Tommies at fifth in the conference, assuredly ahead of the tournament play-in games, but a far cry from where they stood before the five-game skid.
The Jackrabbits excelled in almost every aspect, forcing St. Thomas to play from behind the whole game. The South Dakota State offense was bolstered by a three-pronged performance of junior guard Paige Meyer, sophomore forward Brooklyn Meyer, and sophomore guard Madison Mathiowetz. The trio combined for 69 points and left the Tommies’ defense reeling.
“It was the defense that let us down today,” Sinn said.
The lacking defense gave little opportunities for the Tommies to kickstart their offense; they only scored eight points from their fast break.
“It’s very difficult if all you’re doing is trying to take the ball out of the hoop,” Sinn said. “We’re a very good transition team if we can rebound and run. There wasn’t a lot of opportunities to rebound and run.”
The Tommies only trailed by five after the first quarter but quickly lost steam from trying to play catch-up with a hot Jackrabbit offense. South Dakota State raced out to an 11-2 run to start the second quarter and outscored the Tommies 24-13.
St. Thomas’s offense wasn’t bad – they shot 46.4% – but there were times when it seemed like the Jackrabbits just couldn’t miss. South Dakota State made 67.9% of shots from the field, and 64.3% from beyond the arc.
“Obviously South Dakota State’s a really good team, they’re top in our conference. And so anything we can take away that are positives, we’re going to do that and apply it for our next two games,” Hill said.
The St. Thomas fans who filed in with their cowboy hats for country night did not get to witness a duel. Instead, the Jackrabbits put on their usual high-scoring affair. To make things tougher for the Tommies, there were more fans wearing blue than purple in their own arena in St. Paul.
St. Thomas went 0-2 in their last home stint of the season against the conference’s top teams, but Sinn is always looking for opportunities for growth.
“We’re hoping to use this as a learning tool. Not so much the outcome, but what are the things we can do to become stronger and become better and then make those adjustments as the game goes through,” Sinn said.
The Tommies’ last two games are on the road against two of the bottom three teams in the Summit League, but that doesn’t mean guaranteed wins by any means. They’ve already lost to Denver and eked out a five-point win over Omaha earlier this month.
“We’re just going to have to put this one under the rug and focus on the next opponent,” Graduate forward Angelina Hammond said.
The Tommies tip off their road trip against Omaha at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Neb.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.