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One of the goals of the Tommie women’s basketball team is to go undefeated this season. Well, sort of.
“We want to go 1-0 after every game,” coach Ruth Sinn said.
The team’s credo is about focusing on the controllable factors rather than past or future games.
“[It is] kind of just looking at every game as a new day,” junior Maggie Bryant said. “I think that’s kind of our motto this year.”
Last season, after finishing 15-7 in conference play, the team rode a winning streak into the MIAC playoffs and beat St. Ben’s, the MIAC regular season co-champion, for the MIAC title and an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The win gave St. Thomas its second NCAA tournament appearance in nine years and 12 victories in its last 16 games.
The team traveled to Whitewater, Wis., to take on UW-Whitewater in the first round of the NCAA tournament and was crushed 73-51. But with only one senior graduating after last season, the team hopes this year to get back to the big stage, Sinn said.
“You start getting experience of that next level, and you start understanding that you’re there, what it takes, how far you’re off and what you need to do,” Sinn said. “It’s not something that’s a far-away dream. It’s something that’s reality, and they understand the work that needs to go into it to make it happen.”
Senior center Rachel Booth was a key player in last year’s success. In the last 16 games of the season, the Division II transfer averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and about five blocks. Booth, an All-MIAC honoree, broke St. Thomas records in blocks in a game (8) and in a season (93).
This season, the Tommies’ star center was named a preseason All-American by D-III News. Booth said she wants to win a second MIAC championship and an NCAA title before she graduates.
“I want a national championship,” Booth said. “It’s my last year, we’ve got some returners who have had experience in the tournament last year, we have some great freshman. We’re a really deep team so I think we can take it all.”
Experience and depth are the two factors that distinguish this year’s team from last year’s, Booth said.
Other players, such as All-MIAC returner Alli Johnson, a junior, and members of a deep freshman class, will look to make a splash early on in the season, Booth said.
“I feel like we have a lot of young girls who are going to be able to contribute this year,” Booth said. “Some of the girls who got more experience last year have a new confidence this year. … We’re going to have contributions from all over our team, which is going to be great.”
The Tommies placed behind Gustavus, Concordia, Macalester and St. Ben’s last season in the MIAC, a conference where the “teams that are consistent are usually the teams that end up on top,” Sinn said. She added: “We have to get that consistency.”
One consistent factor St. Thomas will have is its home court, Shoenecker Arena, in the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex. The Tommies traveled last season to Concordia-St. Paul and Macalester to play home games while the new athletic complex was being built. This season players will etch their names in history as the first team to play a basketball game in the arena.
“We’re all really excited,” Bryant said.
But the first basketball game will be a challenging one. The Tommies host No. 6 UW-Steven’s Point on Monday, Nov. 15. A few days later, the team will head to Los Angeles to take on Occidental College on Friday, Nov. 19 and California Lutheran University on Saturday, Nov. 20.
But pressure isn’t a factor for this Tommie team, Sinn said.
“Pressure is something you put upon yourself if you’re not prepared,” Sinn said. “We’re trying to prepare ourselves, so we’re not going to feel any pressure. We’re excited about the opportunity and excited about the challenge because we’re ready for it.”
Miles Trump can be reached at mttalyorjohn@stthomas.edu.