Senior center Hannah Spaulding led the No. 3 St. Thomas women’s basketball team to a 90-31 victory over conference rival St. Benedict Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (23-1 overall, 17-0 MIAC) and St. Ben’s (14-10 overall, 10-7 MIAC) dedicated the game to retiring St. Thomas athletic director Steve Fritz.
Fritz was athletic director of the Tommies for the past 27 years and coached boys basketball for 31 years prior to that.
“Coach Fritz has been a phenomenal leader,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “If you look at coach Fritz, he’s always been about integrity, character and he’s just been that pillar of strength for us that anything is possible.”
The Tommies had a dominate start, leading 27-6 after the first quarter. Spaulding facilitated the offensive explosion, finishing with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and shooting 7-for-9 from the field, while the defense held the Blazers in check.
“Starting out fast on defense is going to be key going forward,” Spaulding said. “Offensively, hopefully the ball goes in the net early, but we will always be able to count on our defense if it doesn’t.”
Spaulding was not alone in the effective offense. The Tommies shared the ball, assisting on 24 of their 38 field goals against the St. Ben’s zone defense. Sophomore forward Kaia Porter had four assists this game.
“Once we pass the ball in the middle, there are so many options to attack,” Porter said. “If we pass well, it suddenly opens up a ton of options for us.”
St. Thomas played 16 of their 18 dressed players tonight, compared to St. Ben’s 11 players.
“That’s the advantage that we have,” Sinn said about the team’s depth. “Everyone comes in, feels valued, and knows that they’ll have something to contribute. That’s a signature of our program.”
The Tommies are back in action Saturday at St. Mary’s in the regular season finale.
Alex Panagiotopoulos can be reached at pana8391@stthomas.edu.