The No. 2-ranked University of St. Thomas women’s basketball team narrowly escaped its first defeat of the season with a 62-55 victory over unranked Marymount in the Sweet Sixteen game of the NCAA Division III tournament to earn its 30th win behind center Kaitlin Langer’s 15 points and seven rebounds at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies’ 9-3 run began the second half, forcing Marymount to take a timeout. St. Thomas was in control, but the momentum shifted in favor of Marymount after Leah Hurst heaved a half-court shot as the buzzer sounded to narrow the Tommies’ lead 48-45 with one quarter remaining. The basket propelled the Saints’ 6-0 run to begin the fourth quarter.
Coach Ruth Sinn said she gives Marymount a lot of credit for their execution.
“Coming into this game, we said one of the things that we were so impressed with them is how disciplined they were to their system and understanding what their strengths are. And they did a great job of that,” Sinn said.
As the finals minutes of the game neared and a potential season-ending loss loomed, the energy level rose both on the court and in the stands as the Tommies fought back on 10 uncontested points to secure a spot in the Elite Eight against Whitman Saturday night at Schoenecker Arena.
Sinn said Whitman has a great team and Saturday’s game is going to come down to the team that can make the most stops.
“Championship basketball is about defense and we’ve got to make sure that defensively, we keep them on point,” said Sinn.
The Tommies (30-0 overall), known for their lights-out offense, started slowly and unable to find the net, shooting only 31 percent in the first half. Marymount (24-5 overall) had control on defense pressuring the Tommies to take forced shots. The Saints clogged the lane shutting down Langer and limiting the St. Thomas’s offense to the perimeter. Forward Lauren Fischer and guard Paige Gernes lead the team with three 3-pointers each.
Gernes said she had never taken three 3-pointers in a game before.
“I normally take like one three a game,” said Gernes. “I felt like I was open enough to take the shot and that we had rebounders in place that if I did miss, we’d have that chance to get an offensive board.”
Sinn said Gernes is a selfless leader who does everything with the team in mind.
The Saints, on the other hand, saw a majority of their success come from the lane capitalizing on St. Thomas’s miscommunication and lacking defense with easy baskets under the hoop. Guard Kiki Laux led the Saints with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Marymount coach Ashlee Rogers said it was a game of runs and St. Thomas was a solid, well-balanced team.
“St. Thomas was all we expected them to be,” said Rogers. “But at the end of the day I couldn’t have asked for better effort from my team and better leadership from (Kiki Laux).
Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.