Guard Kellie Ring’s 18 points led the No. 4 St. Thomas women’s basketball team to a 59-48 victory over St. Olaf, Tuesday at Schoenecker Arena.

St. Thomas (7-1, 5-0) shot well early on with 3-pointers from Ring and forwards Anna Smith and Carley Emery to jump out 15-6. Coach Ruth Sinn said she knew it would be a physical game.

“St. Olaf has all of its front line post players back,” Sinn said. “They look to rebound and play a half-court style of game.”

The Tommies controlled the pace throughout the first half and went into halftime with a 36-20 lead. They forced the Oles (3-5, 1-4) into nine turnovers and shot 41 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

Guard Jenna Dockter said she was happy with her team’s first half.

“We wanted to push the tempo as much as we could this game,” Dockter said. “We did a great job of getting the ball up the floor and scoring easy baskets.”

St. Olaf settled into a 2-3 zone for most of the second half, looking to slow the game down. The Oles cut the Tommie lead to six points late in the second half but weren’t able to get any closer. St. Thomas allowed only two points in the last four minutes of play.

Smith was proud of her team’s defensive effort late in the game.

“We were able to get stops when we needed to,” Smith said.

St. Thomas shot 35 percent from the field for the game, sinking 34 percent of its 3-pointers. Smith scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Other Tommie scorers included forward Alyssa Favilla with six points, guard Kelly Brandenburg with five points and forward Elaine Warner with five points.

Ring tallied four assists and Dockter added three.

Sinn said she was proud of her team’s effort.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Sinn said. “But the positive is that we found a way to win.”

St. Thomas will be back in action against Carleton, Jan. 2, at home.

Kyle Jonas can be reached at jona7984@stthomas.edu.