Sophomore center Jo Langbehn scored 20 points to lead St. Thomas to a 74-56 victory over Chicago State Wednesday at Schoenecker Arena.
Langbehn scored 20 points for the second consecutive game to lead the Tommies (5-5, 0-0 Summit) to a statement win against the Cougars (0-13) for the final non-conference game of the season.
“We can compete,” Langbehn said. “I feel like it needs to be put into people’s minds that we’re so good and we’re so talented.”
The Tommies started off the game with a 21-5 run behind seven points from Langbehn, ending the first quarter with a 23-14 lead after an explosive offensive performance.
“We still have a chip on our shoulder, and we just wanted to come out hot,” senior guard Maggie Negaard said. “We just wanted to go out and execute.”
The Tommies faced a three minute scoring drought to begin the second quarter, but held the Cougars to just two points in that same time frame. Langbehn was finally able to score from the paint with seven minutes left in the half, kickstarting a 10-0 run for the Tommies.
“We are a defensive team. Where we get our momentum is when we can get D stops,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “Yes, we haven’t scored, but can we get some D stops so we can get some more runs.”
The Tommies led 41-23 at halftime behind 14 points from Langbehn and eight from Negaard. The Tommies continued to show their defensive prowess, keeping the Cougars to a mere 26% shooting percentage in the first half.
“Maggie, right now, is about 44% three-point shooter, and we’ve got other shooters that are going to get there, but you can always count on the defense,” Sinn said. “The biggest thing that I would take away is that we’ve got to continue to invest in the defense to be able to hold.”
St. Thomas continued to pile onto its lead, extending the difference to 24 points midway through the third quarter.
The Tommies hit another shooting drought late in the game, however, allowing Chicago State to outscore them in the final quarter. St. Thomas was able to hold on thanks to help coming from deep in the roster, including redshirt first-year guard Ellie Dague and graduate transfer guard Autam Mendez, who combined for ten points.
“I thought Ellie did a really nice job,” Sinn said. “I also felt like Autam did a really nice job. She is such a great player, and she understands the game so well.”
The Tommies will begin conference play with their next game in Grand Forks when they take on North Dakota on Monday, Dec. 19. St. Thomas will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
“The first game of DI, we competed with them (Wisconsin), and since that day I’ve had confidence that we can compete with anyone and that’s been carried on to this year,” Langbehn said regarding the rest of the season.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.