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Forward Jenna Dockter and the rest of the St. Thomas women’s basketball team can be pretty good when they’re making shots. St. Mary’s found that out Thursday night.

The No. 2 seeded Tommies used a 14-4 run in the last 3:42 to punch their ticket to the MIAC playoff championship game, downing the No. 3 seeded Cardinals 69-60 at Schoenecker Arena.

“I liked the way we were moving the ball,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “We were trying to get people on the outside, drive the lanes and get to the gaps. It worked out well.”

The Tommies (21-5) and Cardinals (22-5) split the season series up until Thursday. Both teams had won on their home floors.

St. Mary’s, which had won 14 of its last 15 games, was coming off a 76-69 victory against Gustavus Tuesday. The effects of that game were apparent down the stretch as the well-rested Tommies had fresher legs. St. Thomas utilized stingy second-half defense, along with strong shooting, to clinch its spot in the conference title game Saturday.

“A big focus of ours is defense,” Dockter said, who led the team with 19 points. “Lots of times our defense leads into our offense. (Our defense) was really effective tonight.”

That defense forced 16 Cardinal turnovers and allowed 10 points in the last 6:55 of the game. St. Mary’s never led.

Despite the strong finish, the two teams started slow, with the Tommies maintaining a 2-point lead for the first 8:22 of the game. Center Anna Smith nailed a 3-pointer on the right wing, giving St. Thomas a 15-10 lead.

Dockter, who was 9-of-12 from the field, gave the Tommies a 23-16 lead, their largest of the half, with a strong running layup through traffic midway through the first half forcing a Cardinal timeout.

But St. Mary’s was not going down without a fight, using a mini 5-0 run in the last 1:49 of the first half to cut the deficit to 31-28 at halftime.

Sinn said the Tommies had to make sure they made the Cardinals, who shot 42.1 percent from the field, work for every point in the paint during the second half.

“The last time we played them, (the Cardinal post players) really did a lot of damage to us,” Sinn said. “We were going to try and make sure that they’re not going to get the same amount of points last time on us.”

Another 5-0 run began the second half, but this time it was St. Thomas, and on one possession. Guard Kellie Ring found Smith off an inbound pass underneath, one shoulder fake and Smith was heading to the line to try and finish off a old-fashioned, 3-point play.

Smith, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, tracked down her own free throw miss and found Ring wide open beyond the arc. Ring didn’t miss, giving the Tommies an 8-point lead, 36-28 just 19 seconds in the second half.

The Tommies continued to hold a comfortable lead until a 5-0 run pulled the Cardinals within two, 47-45 with 9:45 remaining. When it seemed as though St. Thomas had the game in hand, St. Mary’s made a run to draw nearer.

Guard Jessica Thone found space underneath the basket and put in an uncontested layup, drawing St. Mary’s within one with 3:42 to go.

With the Tommies needing a basket, Dockter stepped up and took control. She connected on back-to-back baskets, putting the Tommies up five, 61-56 and stole a Cardinal pass with 1:18 left to help seal the win.

Dockter said the last matchup with the Cardinals provided the blueprint on ending the game strong.

“The last time we played them, we lost and it was a similar situation,” Dockter said. “We were up by a little bit, and they came back and we weren’t able to respond to that. Tonight, we knew that no matter how many points we put up, they were going to come back and fight.”

Sinn said Dockter was big on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

“She’s a very determined young lady, and it was her time to shine,” Sinn said.

St. Thomas had the edge in nearly every statistical category. The Tommies out-rebounded the Cardinals 35-30 and had 12 more points in the paint, 42-30. St. Thomas shot 47.3 percent from the floor.

The victory puts the Tommies in their fourth straight MIAC tournament title game where they will face the No. 1-seeded Cobbers at 3 p.m. Saturday in Moorhead, Minn. The winner clinches the MIAC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Cobbers and Tommies split the season series with both teams winning on their home floors. Concordia-Moorhead defeated St. Thomas back in the 2010-2011 MIAC title game in St. Paul, keeping the Tommies out of the NCAA tournament.

Sinn said the Tommies can’t afford to allow scoring runs against the Cobbers.

“When you get to anybody’s gym, you can’t let them have momentum,” Sinn said. “It’s going to be a battle.”

Ross Schreck can be reached at schr8250@stthomas.edu.