WAVERLY, Iowa — Despite 28 points from forward Hannah Spaulding, the St. Thomas women’s basketball team fell to East Texas Baptist University 61-58 March 9 in overtime at Levick Arena.
The Tommies were never able to get their offense going against a stifling Tiger defense. It was the lowest scoring game the Tommies had all season.
“Good defensive teams, what they are trying to do, is disrupt the offensive flow, and they did that to us,” St. Thomas coach Ruth Sinn said. “We didn’t have a flow to our offense. We weren’t comfortable.”
With just over four minutes remaining in regulation, St. Thomas trailed 50-40. The Tommies battled back. Spaulding converted two layups and guard Lauren Fischer knocked down a trey to bring the deficit to three. Junior guard Kaylie Brazil then hit a game-tying three to knot it up at 50-50 with two minutes to go.
“We battled, and you could see that on the court tonight,” guard Maddie Wolkow said. “We were down by 10 at one point and we weren’t just going to give up.”
Spaulding gave St. Thomas its first lead of the game after finishing a three-point play to make it 53-52 with a minute and 20 seconds remaining. But the Tigers were able to tie it up at 53-53 with a made free throw of their own.
With five seconds remaining in regulation, Fischer had a corner three that would have likely won the game for St. Thomas, but she wasn’t able to convert.
“When you get in that position, it’s going to come down to a score, a stop, and then another score and that’s all we needed, but unfortunately we didn’t get that,” Sinn said
The Tigers controlled the overtime tip and carried a 58-54 lead with just over a minute to play. The Tommies again battled back.
After a Spaulding free throw, Brazil hit her second clutch three-pointer to tie the game at 58-58 with 34 seconds remaining in overtime.
Tiger guard Erin Meeks drove into the lane and was fouled with six seconds remaining. She made one free throw and gave her team a 59-58 lead, which they would not surrender again. The Tigers hit two more free throws and led 61-58 with one tick left on the clock.
St. Thomas had a last-second three from the corner that was blocked by a Tiger defender and never had a chance.
“We ran out of time,” Sinn said. “We needed another five minutes.”
The Tigers move on to their first Elite Eight appearance in school history.
The Tommies graduate Fischer and Wolkow, the two winningest seniors in program history with a career record of 114-9.
“I’m really proud of these two seniors and what they’ve accomplished and how they have carried the torch for our St. Thomas women’s program,” Sinn said.
Brady Halbmaier can be reached at halb2084@stthomas.edu.