Sophomore Taylor Young’s 16 points led the women’s basketball team to a 51-46 victory over Macalester Monday night at Schoenecker Arena. The win secures a MIAC playoff spot for the team, and St. Thomas is already assured of a top-four playoff seed.

Young scored 10 of her 16 points in the second half, and the No.15-ranked Tommies used a 7-2 run in the final 40 seconds to clinch the win

“At halftime we knew that we had taken them too lightly at first, Young said. “They surprised us, and we knew we had to pick it up or we weren’t going to win.”

Macalester came out strong in the first half despite shooting just 35 percent from the field. During a 8-1 Macalester run in the final six minutes of the first half, junior Kyanna Jones scored back-to-back jumpers, and senior Jessica Rene also scored consecutive baskets.

Despite senior Ali Johnson’s 3-pointer with 20 seconds left in the first half, the Tommies entered halftime down by a score of 22-20.

“They had some guards that were scoring more than we expected, and eventually we adjusted,” sophomore Maggie Weiers said.

Both teams played hard in a second half that had five ties and three lead changes.

Macalester took a 41-38 lead after senior Maggie Wood hit a 3-pointer with 6:22 left in the game.

“This is a 40 minute basketball game,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “There’s times where we’ve got to play all 40 minutes every possession, and in this last game I’m not sure if we played all 40 minutes.”

With the score tied at 44-44, St. Thomas finished the game with a 7-2 run and made 4-4 free throws in the final 41 seconds.

Senior Sarah Smith added 14 points and six rebounds, and Weiers contributed eight points and six boards.

St. Thomas was able to keep its lead and increase its winning streak to 18 games. Sinn, however, said that she is not focusing on the streak.

“We’re focusing on just being in the moment and maximizing, improving and just getting better,” Sinn said.

The 51-46 victory keeps St. Thomas in first-place in the MIAC, four games ahead of second-place Gustavus.

St. Thomas will face St. Ben’s on the road Wednesday.

“Its going to be a big game for us, we’ve never been in a position where we have swept them,” Sinn said. “We’ve been on the road a lot. We’re gonna get pumped. We’re gonna get excited about playing them and see what we can do.”

Meghan Sheldon can be reached at shel9069@stthomas.edu.