[slidepress gallery=”110119_bball”]

Senior Rachel Booth’s season-high 18 points and nine rebounds gave the St. Thomas women’s basketball team an edge as it survived a late-game scare to defeat Macalester at home 62-60.

When the two teams met in December, St. Thomas routed Macalester 77-49. But the second meeting between the teams was close for its entirety.

“They gave a tough effort both times,” Booth said. “But I feel like we weren’t hitting our shots tonight. Our two-foot, three-foot shots were just not going in, and we weren’t in good position to get the rebounds.”

Macalester came out of the gates making its shots and forcing the Tommies to make mistakes. Despite shooting only 28 percent from the field in the first half, St. Thomas went into halftime with a 25-23 lead.

“I told them we gotta push the pace and go,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “If you’re not scoring effortlessly on the offensive end, then you have to get some defense to [get your] offense going.  We did that.”

In the second half, the Tommies pushed the pace and gained control of the game. Booth came up big on the offensive end, fighting for post position and making contested shots. Her aggressive play led to Macalester shooting fouls, and Booth made six of nine free throws. St. Thomas finished the game 19-25 from the line.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Sinn said. “She always gets the double and triple [teams] on her, and I thought that she really went with a purpose to the basket. She wasn’t going to be denied.”

Though the Tommies’ effort was much better in the second half, Macalester would not go away. Led by senior Majra Mucic and junior Jessica Rene’s 17 points apiece, the Scots were able to match baskets with St. Thomas down the stretch. Mucic was unstoppable from beyond the arc, hitting five of seven 3-pointers.

Macalester’s strong offensive performance forced the Tommies to turn up the defensive pressure on the Scots, and St. Thomas was able to force key turnovers. Sophomore Kellie Ring came up with three mid-court steals, which all led to layups. Ring finished the game with seven points.

“Kelly’s steals were a huge turning point in the game,” Booth said. “It brought us some energy, and after that, it was like, ‘Let’s put this thing away.’”

With five seconds remaining, it looked like the Tommies had the game won, leading 61-58, but Rene launched a 3-pointer from the corner and was fouled by senior Jazmin Townsend.

Rene hit two free throws in a row to cut the lead to one, and Sinn called a timeout in an attempt to ice the shooter.

“We were talking about all the different scenarios,” Sinn said. “What we wanted to do [on a miss] was get the ball to [halfcourt] within two seconds so we could have three seconds in the half court.”

The Tommies got a break when Rene missed the last of her free throws, and Townsend made up for the foul by grabbing a big rebound and drawing a Macalester foul. She made one of two free throws, making it a 62-60 game, and a desperation heave from Macalester fell short.

St. Thomas finished the game with 11 turnovers and posted a 22-14 advantage in bench scoring. It was the fifth consecutive home game the Tommies have won, and the win keeps Sinn’s team one-half game behind first place St. Ben’s heading into Saturday’s showdown at St. Ben’s.

“It’s the game that you play for,” Sinn said. “It’s fun. We’re going to have be sharper, we’re going to have to shoot better, and we’re going to have to defend harder.”

Ryan Shaver can be reached at Shav7005@stthomas.edu.