St. Thomas women are ready to dictate their destiny

In 2021, the University of St. Thomas women’s basketball team was just happy to be there. In 2022, the Tommies put together their first real Division 1 winning streak, won a Summit League tournament game and showed that they belong. Now, on the eve of their third season competing with the big dogs, Ruth Sinn’s squad from St. Paul is ready to dictate its own destiny. The Tommies open their season Monday night in Des Moines against mid-major standout Drake University.

The Tommies would love to start the season the way they ended year two: on a roll. After losing their initial six games of the Summit League campaign, St. Thomas got its collective act together winning five of its final six contests before falling to mighty South Dakota State in the second round of the conference tournament. That run was the highlight of a campaign that saw the program go 7-11 in conference play, 13-17 overall. “We were playing our best basketball at the end of the season,” Sinn said. “We did a really nice job of playing collectively, sharing the basketball, understanding who we were and what we had to do to play well together.”

“I feel like our winning streak near the end of the season was a big mindset shift for us,” said junior Sammy Opichka from Green Bay. Fifth-year senior Jordyn Glynn of Grand Meadow – the last remaining player from St. Thomas’ time in Division 3 – said the experience was surreal. “Honestly it was all kind of a blur,” she said. “It showed us what we could do and gave us confidence in ourselves going into the tournament. I think getting that first tournament win in our first time going there was huge for us. Hopefully by the end of this season we can reach that point again and make it even farther.”

The current edition of the Tommies is vastly different from the one that came into D1 two years ago. For the first time in the D1 era, the majority of the team are upperclassmen. In those early days St. Thomas was often overmatched playing against veteran squads loaded with experienced performers. The Division 3 holdovers had a hard time keeping up and the new recruits struggled to stay afloat. Winning seven games that first year is a testament to Sinn’s coaching and the players’ collective will to fight. “Even some of the older players really had their hands full making the adjustment,” Sinn recalled. “I mean, we were going against 5th-year COVID seniors and it was tough.”

When the Tommies went up against powerhouse South Dakota that season, the Coyotes’ standout post player Hannah Sjerven, later drafted by the Minnesota Lynx, was 23 years old and in her sixth season. SDSU forward Myah Selland was just a year younger. The Tommies were fresh-faced, wide-eyed and treading water.  Last year that changed. “As they got older they really started to understand what was required and they started to play better,” Sinn said.

“I think the first year we were just kind of letting everything hit us whereas last year we kind of knew what to expect,” Glynn said, looking back. “We were giving out those first hits and we were fighting back. This season we can even step it up from there.” Opichka agrees. “We’re not just filling our tank with information over and over again. We know what to do now,” she said. “We’re just much more confident in our system. Besides SDSU, we’ve beaten every team in the conference at least once. We know that we can do it. It’s just a matter of having the right mindset going into every game.”

How the Tommies line up

So what does this year’s St. Thomas team look like? The roster features eight Minnesotans. Once again Jade Hill will be running the show from the point. The junior from Minneapolis South has established herself as a solid D1 floor general who distributes, sets the tempo and scores. She’s joined in the backcourt by second-year Tommie Amber Scalia of Stillwater (pictured above in the banner photo), whose game has really grown over the past 12 months. Glynn is the glue player, a small forward who puts her stamp on the game every night whether she scores or doesn’t. Her rebounding is crucial, and she sets the tone for composure and work rate.

Up front Opichka will be key at the small forward spot. She’s currently nursing a foot injury and is expected to miss the first couple of games meaning sophomore Faith Feuerbach of Sycamore, Illinois is likely to start. Inside duties will be shared by junior Jo Langbehn of Elk River and 5th-year senior Angie Hammond of Hopkins, who played last year at the University of Minnesota. That veteran presence inside will be crucial.

Off the bench junior guard Phoebe Frentzel of Hartland, Wisconsin will play a key role. Currently sidelined with injuries but likely to be significant contributors when they return are sophomore forward Jordyn Lamker of Maple Grove and redshirt sophomore Ellie Dague of Henning. Among the freshmen it looks like 6-foot forward Emma Miner out of the All-Iowa Attack program is most likely to earn good minutes with Zoey Washington of St. Croix Lutheran, Sammi Beyer of Appleton, Wisconsin and walk-on Lizzie Steingraber of New London, Wisconsin knocking on the door.

Playing with an edge

St. Thomas will have a little different look on the sidelines this season. Assistant coach Teonna Jewell returned home in the summer to join the coaching staff at Youngstown State. Director of Basketball Operations Madison McKeever was promoted into Jewell’s former role. Perhaps more significant is the departure of long-time assistant coach Brian Silk, one of the best Xs and Os guys around. Silk has retired due to ongoing health issues.

Silk has been replaced in the defacto offensive coordinator role by Kyle Lurvey, who was instrumental in leading Hope College in Michigan to the Division 3 national championship. Lurvey’s influence is already obvious in how the team is practicing in an environment that Sinn called the ‘competitive cauldron.’ “Kyle has been a great addition to our staff,” Sinn said. “He’s really helping us to see things from an outsider’s perspective. He’s helping us dig deeper to bring out our strengths.”

The players have certainly noticed. “I think in practice we’ve implemented a much more competitive culture,” Glynn explained. “There’s running on the lines so no one wants to lose so I think that’s really helped us get into a new mindset of being the aggressors.”

According to Opichka it is a welcome enhancement. “I think we needed to get more of a chip on our shoulder,” she said. “I think our confidence level is a big thing, just trust within our system. That has gone up so much that I feel we are much more able to walk into these games with a chip on our shoulder and knowing what we can do out there.”

Ready to roll

In preparation for their opener on Monday, St. Thomas played a tough Northern Iowa squad in a closed scrimmage followed by an exhibition win over Division 2 UM-Crookston last Saturday. One player who won’t be available vs the Bulldogs is Maggie Negaard, who was the heart and soul of the Tommies last season. Originally a transfer from Drake, Negaard played 31 minutes a game for the Tommies averaging nearly 13 points and 4 rebounds. She has graduated and will be sorely missed.

The remaining Tommies know full well that Drake poses a huge challenge to start the year. The Bulldogs’ roster includes four Minnesotans: redshirt senior Taylor McAulay of Centennial, junior forward Anna Miller of Rochester Mayo, along with freshmen Shannon Fornshell of Wayzata and Emily Christenson of East Ridge. Former North Tartan standout Courtney Becker from Wisconsin is also a big piece for Drake. Head coach Allison Pohlman directs a squad with size, skill, poise and experience, and the Knapp Center has historically been an extremely difficult place for visitors to win. Drake was 12-2 at home last year, 22-10 overall. They fell by just two points to Louisville in the NCAA tournament.

“They are bigger than us. They are stronger than us. We’re just going to have to figure out ways to manipulate them,” said Opichka. “Watching film on them, we know that a lot of what we do on defense isn’t going to let them do a lot of what they like to do on offense. I think as long as we stay to our principles and be the aggressor and not let them do what they want to do and get easy points in the lane then we’ll be fine.”

Sinn said the Tommies are excited to get started. “We’re going to have our hands full,” she said on Thursday, “but as we talked about at practice today, this is where we grow. This game is going to be an opportunity to learn and grow and play a really great opponent. It’s going to be fun.”

THE SUMMIT LEAGUE

One thing that has changed this season is the Summit League itself. First, there is one less program with Western Illinois having departed for the Ohio Valley Conference. That leaves nine teams for now. Perhaps more significantly is the situation at South Dakota State. There’s no question the Jackrabbits are still favored to win the league, but with Selland’s graduation and season-ending injuries to veterans Kallie Theisen of Wayzata and Haleigh Timmer of Rapid City it feels like the rest of the league at least has a chance. Of all the conferences in Division 1 the Summit League has the most connections to the state of Minnesota with 27 players distributed across six rosters. All were ranked highly by Prep Girls Hoops during their high school careers. Here they are listed by team with their high school and previous colleges.

ST. THOMAS

NORTH DAKOTA STATE

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

SOUTH DAKOTA

NORTH DAKOTA

KANSAS CITY