The St. Thomas women’s basketball team dropped its second game of the season to Illinois State, losing 70-55 in the team’s home opener Saturday afternoon at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (0-2, 0-2 Summit) were plagued by turnovers in the first quarter of their home opener, notching eleven, which supported the Redbirds’ (1-1, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference) 10-0 first quarter run.
“That’s the maturity that we still need,” Head coach Ruth Sinn said. “We’re still young…we’re trying to work hard but sometimes we don’t really work smart.”
Illinois State peppered the scoreboard with lay-ups and floaters throughout the first half, shooting a consistent 46.2% from the field to end the half. The Tommies couldn’t find many breakaway opportunities with ISU’s stifling defense.
In her home debut, first-year guard Jade Hill helped in patching the wounds from the first quarter by going 3-7 to thin ISU’s lead to five, making it 18-23 halfway through the second quarter. She led the team with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists in a strong performance.
“I just think knowing that my team has my back and that I bring a lot to the team motivates me to do my best for the team,” Hill said.
The Tommies were outscored 42-35 in the second half, and 32-16 from points in the paint. The scoreboard was a glaring reminder of the team’s renewed Division I mission.
“It’s the first time we get to do this, and there’s a lot of learning,” Sinn said. “We have a young group and we are just trying to get the pieces where we have enough cohesion and enough trust.”
Starting forward and graduate student Kaia Porter knows that stretches of mistakes can be devastating.
“It’s so hard to come back at this level because every team, if they smell blood, they’re going to keep building and run with it,” Porter said. “In order to win games at this level, that stuff is just going to kill you.”
Offensive firepower was the story of the third quarter, led by sophomore center Kate Burns, who added on 8 consecutive points to make it 34-30 out of the half.
“I feel good about how I played and I think consistency is a big thing with the whole team,” Burns said.
Illinois State closed out the game leading by double digits throughout the fourth, leaving the Tommies with a learning lesson.
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you, and we want to grow,” Sinn said. “The reason that we play games is to be tested, and to make sure that we can stay true to our identity.”
The Tommies will roll down south at 6 p.m. this coming Thursday to take on the South Carolina State Bulldogs.
Jonathan Rosario can be reached at Rosa8273@stthomas.edu.