The St. Thomas women tipped off their 2024-2025 season with a pair of wins. Last night, they outclassed D3 Crown College 99-33. Lat Monday they had a tougher test vs. Milwaukee (the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, that is) 84-81 in OT. Both games were played at Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies took an early 25-16 lead over the Milwaukee Panthers, but Milwaukee fought back to tie the game at 49 and to take the lead at 51-50. With 1:49 remaining, the Panthers led 67-60, but senior guard Jade Hill took over for the Tommies, scoring their last 7 points to force OT at 67-all. Hill then scored 8 points in OT, and St. Thomas again overcame deficits of 75-72 and 80-78 to get the win. Hill finished with 35 points, 15 of them in the last 7 minutes. 6-2 senior post Jo Langbehn scored 17 and 6-0 senior forward Sammy Opichka 12 with 13 boards. The Tommies outran the Panthers to the tune of 23-4 on fast break points, but Milwaukee responded with a 21-8 edge in 2nd chance points.
Then, last night St. Thomas ran off 28 straight points to close the 1st quarter with a 33-6 lead. The Tommies shot 47 percent on the night, Crown just 23. Langbehn led the way with 15 points, while junior guard Amber Scalia scored 14. Coach Ruth Sinn had the luxury of playing her bench more than half of the game, and Mikayla Werner and Alyssa Sand responded with 14 points apiece and 15 rebounds and 5 steals between them.
Progress Is Our Most Important Product
You may be aware that the transition from D3 to D1 has not been as smooth as, well, it hasn’t been as smooth as I expected. Coach Sinn probably knew better but I thought that she and the Tommies would have had more success, sooner. They had nothing but success in her 1st 16 years, all of those in D3. Since moving up, the Tommies were 4-14 (in the Summit League) and 7-21 in 2022, 7-11 and 13-17 in 2023, and 7-9, 15-16 in 2024,
They’ll continue to get better in 2024-2025. Coach Sinn’s squad returns 3 of 5 starters in Jo Langbehn, Jade Hill and Amber Scalia plus sometime starters Sammy Opichka and Faith Fuerbach. The 5 of them combined for 52 points last year, and those all started in those 1st 2 games.
The Tommies biggest challenge will be not enough size and strength on the inside, as evidenced by Milwaukee’s 18 offensive reboiunds and 21 2nd chance points. Opichka and Fuerbach are each 6-feet tall, and Opichka can play inside. She’s got 18 boards and 4 blocked shots in the 1st 2 games. But, last year Angelina Hammond gave the Tommies a little extra size and gave Langbehn some support in the paint. If coach Sinn wants to go this route, much will depend on the development of 6-3 freshman Alyssa Sand, from Albany. I have no doubt that Sand will be a star one day, but which day? Sometime in her freshman season? Time will tell. And, the Tommies also have Jordyn Lamker back, hopefully for a full season after missing half of last year. She, too, is a 6-footer but she is a tough inside player when she’s healthy. I could see a starting lineup of Langbehn, Sand, Lamker, Hill and Scalia. She played 16 minutes and scored 4 points with 2 rebounds against Milwaukee. She failed to score in the 1st half vs. Crown, but exploded in the 2nd half for 14 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. So perhaps she has already arrived.
Still, guards Hill and Scalia will lead the way. Hill is a 5-7 senior from Mpls. South, and we have already seen her dominate a game against a D1 opponent. Scalia is a 5-9 junior from Stillwater. Together they scored 30 ppg with 7 assists a year ago. Meanwhile Langbehn, s senior from Elk River, lifts the team’s shooting percentage by making 66 percent of her shots for a total of 12 ppg.
The Summit
The Tommies of course play in the mid-major Summit League, and as mid-majors go it’s probably best understood to be a lower-middle mid-major. Nobody would say it’s as good as the American, the Atlantic 10, the Mid-American, the Missouri Valley, the Mountain West or the West Coast, to name a few. But the competition is tough enough. South Dakota State is always a threat to win a game in the NCAA tournament. As was the case last year, SDSU, North Dakota State and Oral Roberts will be favored to finish ahead of the Tommies. South Dakota also finished ahead of the Tommies last year, but it says here that St. Thomas moves ahead of the Coyotes into 4th place.
1. South Dakota State (16-0, 27-6 last year). The Jackrabbits could be even better than last year’s team that took a 21-game winning streak into its NCAA tournament 1st round loss to Utah. They return 3-and-a-half starters. 6-1 forward Madysen Vlastuin started the first half of the season, then went out with an injury. She’s back, along with 6-2 junior Brooklyn Meyer (17 ppg-8 reb-2 asts-59% shooting); 5-6 senior point guard Paige Meyer (15-3-4-50%); and 5-10 junior guard Madison Mathiowetz (11-4-3-44%).
But what makes the Jackrabbits look so very good is the return of 2 starters from 2023 who missed last year with injuries. They are 5-11 junior guard Haleigh Timmer (12-4-2-45%) and 6-1 senior forward Kallie Thiesen (6-6-48%). Just for good measure, guard Ellie Colbeck is also back, making it 5 of the top 7 from last year plus 2 more starters from 2023. That is an imposing 7-deep rotation. I can’t say the Rabbits will be unbeaten again, but overall they will be as good or better than last year.
2. North Dakota State (13-3, 22-12). The Bison return 6 contributors from a year ago plus Wisconsin tranfer Sacia Vanderpool, now a 6-5 senior. Others include 6-2 forwards Abbie Draper (10 ppg last year) and Avery Koenen 96 ppg-5 reb). Returning guards include Minnesotans Abby Schulte and Abby Krzewinka, each of whom scored 7 ppg last year. The Bison return a total of 35 ppg from a 22 win team, which is not bad though it’s barely half of what the Jackrabbits are returning.
3. Oral Roberts (11-5, 21-11). The Orals return 4 starters and 53 points.
4. St. Thomas (7-9, 15-16). The Tommies return 59 points.
The cupboard is kinda bare at both South Dakota and North Dakota, and I don’t know anything about Denver, Kansas City or Omaha, except that they went a combined 11-37 in the conference last year.
Returning to the Tommies, they return to action Sunday at Northern Illinois, in the 1st of 4 straight road games, continuing with Iowa State, Wichita State and Oakland (MI). I expect the Tommies to close out the calendar year with perhaps 7 wins and 6 losses, just in time to open the Summit season against Kansas City on Thursday, January 2. A 10-6 record in the Summit, that is, 3 more wins than last year, is a reasonable goal for a 17-12 record going into the post-season. That would be an excellent achievement for a team that went 15-16 a year ago and a team that, again, is in just its 4th D1 season.
