Keyed by 11 points from guard Katie Stone – including three 3-pointers in the first half – the No. 6-ranked St. Thomas women’s basketball team extended its unbeaten streak to begin the season to eight games with a 78-50 win over Wartburg (Iowa) Friday at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (8-0 overall, 3-0 MIAC) hit a season-high 11 shots behind the arc and racked up 21 assists as a team. Stone said the two numbers are closely related as a measure of how fluid the team’s offense is running.
“Our posts are really good at getting the ball out when we call for it and putting us in good situations to shoot it,” Stone said. “(A lot of my success tonight) was because of my teammates passing and setting good picks.”
Forward Anna Smith and center Maggie Weiers combined for seven assists in the game while also chipping in 16 points as a duo. Coach Ruth Sinn said she was impressed by the Tommies’ ability to play good team basketball, work inside-out and “get great looks by moving the ball.”
“We play off of each other,” Sinn said. “I give my posts a lot of credit. Rather than forcing it and taking bad shots … they knew that their teammates would be open.”
Weiers said the dual nature of the Tommie’s offense will be an important factor moving forward and that the team’s game plan will change depending on how opponents defends.
“We’re so strong because we have a strong inside and we have a strong outside,” Weiers said. “If we’re shooting good, we can extend the floor and then work back inside if we want, or depending on what coach sees.”
Wartburg entered Friday’s matchup averaging 79 points-per-game, and its leading scorer, center Kailey Kladivo, came into the game averaging a team-leading 17.3 points-per-game. Contained by the Tommies’ tenacious defense, the Knights were held under 70 points for just the second time this year, and Kladivo managed just five points – her lowest output on the season.
“We just wanted to deny the post and not let her get the ball inside,” Weiers said. “We did a really good job, and all of our posts were focused on that.”
Wartburg entered the game shooting just over 45 percent from the field as a team, but St. Thomas forced 21 turnovers and held the Knights to just over 36 percent shooting on Friday.
Weiers said the key to St. Thomas’ defense is pretty simple.
“We make them work, we make them work and we make them work,” Weiers said.
The game was tied twice in the early goings, and Wartburg forward Bobbi Burrows’ free throws cut St. Thomas’ lead to eight with 9:35 left in the first half, but center Kaitlin Langer’s jump shot just over a minute later pushed St. Thomas’ lead to 10 points, and from then after, the Tommies’ lead never dipped below double digits.
Guard Jenna Dockter reached double figures in points for the sixth time this season, pacing the Tommies with 16 points but was also tied for the team lead with three turnovers. St. Thomas coughed the ball up 16 times against Wartburg, and Sinn said offensive efficiency will “definitely be a major point going forward.”
St. Thomas will have a break for the holidays before heading to Kenosha, Wisconsin for the Carthage College Tournament Dec. 29-30.
Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.