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The women’s basketball team’s 83-72 overtime victory over Calvin College last Saturday night has secured a spot in the Final Four, and coach Ruth Sinn said that senior center Sarah Smith is the cornerstone of this successful season.
“Sarah’s a player on our team that makes everybody better,” Sinn said. “From giving everybody that assurance on the court that we’re going to do the right thing, that we’re going to be in the right spot. She’s just a very fundamental person.”
Smith joined the team her freshman year with unestablished expectations of her future.
After the Tommies lost their first NCAA tournament game in Smith’s sophomore year and the MIAC championship game in her junior year, Smith has hit her stride in her senior year. She has helped lead the team to a 30-1 season, which is the longest winning streak in the program’s history.
“This year has just been a straight dream come true,” Smith said. “You can’t ask for anything better your senior year, and you can’t ask for anyone better to share it with.”
Throughout the years, Sinn said she has witnessed Smith mature on the court.
“Her junior year, she led us in minutes,” Sinn said. “How does she lead us in minutes? She leads us in minutes because she does so many things well. She boxes out on the defensive end; she has a tough defensive assignment offensively. She’s steady; she’s poised, (and) she finds a way to be successful no matter what.”
Smith’s success also extends off the court and into the classroom. An accounting major, Smith has a 3.84 GPA and works in the Tutor-Mentor program.
“Coming here, it’s obviously a little more tough because you have a lot more coming at you,” Smith said. “People have volunteer work, they have jobs, they have internships, they have music, they have the same things… It’s just finding that balance.”
Senior guard Carolyn Dienhart, Smith’s teammate since freshman year, speaks highly of Smith’s character.
“She works really hard; she does the little things,” Dienhart said. “She’s a great rebounder; she’s a great passer. She does everything you’d want in a teammate. And she’s also a really great friend.”
Sinn is confident that Smith will continue to be an asset to the team as it faces Illinois Wesleyan this weekend.
“We do well when Sarah does well,” Sinn said. “We’re hoping that Sarah continues to shine and continues to be that rock, that pillar for our team. I’m sure she will.”
Rita Kovtun can be reached at kovt1547@stthomas.edu.