Women’s basketball to host Chapman in NCAA tourney opener

Posted on by

The St. Thomas women’s basketball team will host Chapman University in the first round of the 2018 Division III Women’s Basketball Championship tournament.

The St. Thomas bench cheers for the squad on the floor during the second quarter during a Feb. 24 victory against Gustavus. The Tommies got off to a slow start with only 11 points in the first period, but rallied back to a six-point lead after the first half. (Davis Narey/TommieMedia)

Chapman University will be traveling from Orange, California, to take on the Tommies at Schoenecker Arena March 2. Chapman finished its regular season with a 15-game win streak and a 23-4 overall record.

The Tommies are familiar with extensive winning streaks as well. St. Thomas has not lost in over two months; the team has won 18-consecutive games since Dec. 16, finishing the season with a 25-2 overall record.

The Tommies’ leading scorer, center Hannah Spaulding, was sidelined with a concussion for the entirety of the MIAC playoffs. Spaulding said she passed her concussion protocol test for this week and expects to play this weekend.

Spaulding’s return is good news for the Tommies. The junior center ended the regular season with the highest field goal percentage of all NCAA divisions at 71.4 percent.

If St. Thomas wins on Friday evening, it will play the winner of the University of Chicago vs. Wisconsin-Lutheran matchup. The second round game takes place March 4 at Schoenecker Arena.

Kyle Manderfeld can be reached at mand4052@stthomas.edu