Sophomore post Brynne Rolland led the St. Thomas women’s basketball team with 21 points to defeat St. Mary’s 75-59 Saturday at Schoenecker Arena for their third win in a row to conclude the regular season.

The Tommies’ win marks coach Ruth Sinn’s 11th consecutive season with at least a 20-win season.

“Coming into this year we had like a 70-game MIAC winning percentage, nobody had beat us, so everybody’s gunning for us,” Sinn said.

The Tommies’ defense dominated the first quarter, only giving up seven points to the Cardinals.

“We build ourselves with our defense in mind,” Sinn said. “We are first in the league in defensive points against and even shooting percentage, so teams don’t shoot that well against us.”

Junior guard Macy Hatlestad ended the first half with a buzzer-beater 3-pointer off a pass from junior guard Noelle Tomes, giving the Tommies a 33-20 lead.

“We can stretch the floor really well,” Hatlestad said, “anticipating where the defense is going to collapse and finding our shooters.”

Hatlestad gave the offense an aggressive boost throughout the game. She scored all of her 18 points from behind the arc, making six out of her 11 attempts.

Hatlestad attributed their offensive success in-part to the relationship she has with other leading players, including Tomes and Rolland.

“I think Noelle, Brynne and I have such a good connection off the floor that we play we play really well with each other,” said Hatlestad, “which is kind of cool.”

Tomes, a transfer student from Air Force Academy, added to Hatlestad’s comment.

“I think we were definitely on the same page tonight,” Tomes said, “ It was super easy for us to find each other and get a good look at the basket.”

The three lead the team in game play and field goals made.

St. Thomas finished third in the MIAC regular season standings behind Augsburg and Bethel.

The Tommies host St. Kate’s in the quarterfinals of the MIAC tournament 7 p.m. Tuesday at Schoenecker Arena.

Burke Spizale can be reached at spiz8477@stthomas.edu.