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Surviving St. Kate’s strong second-half effort, the St. Thomas women’s basketball team escaped with a 61-50 win Saturday at home; an important win as the MIAC playoffs approach.
The Tommies were prepared for an aggressive game against St. Kate’s and were motivated to win after losing 73-68 to the Wildcats Jan. 15.
“I think the whole team was kind of thinking, ‘We want revenge,’” senior Becky Theisen said.
“I think we were … extra-focused, and we had a good practice yesterday, just preparing for their plays and their key players,” she said.
Freshman Taylor Young, who led the Tommies with 19 points, said this game was a chance for a rematch.
“We just wanted to come out with energy,” Young said. “We lost to them the first time so we kind of owed them that. We just wanted to beat them and improve ourselves.”
Senior Rachel Booth led the Tommies with nine rebounds, and also contributed 10 points and four blocks.
Leading the Wildcats was Laura Klabfell with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Picking up speed in the second half
Even though St. Thomas led 30-22 after the first half, Theisen said the team had to reassess its strategy.
“We knew we had to make the adjustments and stop a few of their players who went off in the first half,” she said. “We also [needed] to bear down on our offensive end.”
Coach Ruth Sinn said she was aware of the level of competition going into the game.
“I told the girls, ‘They’re going to play a tough game,’ which they did,” Sinn said.
Sinn said she was pleased with the players’ improvements as the game progressed.
Young said she hopes the victory against St. Kate’s will motivate the Tommies for upcoming games.
“I hope we can keep winning in our conference and then do well in the conference tournament,” she said. “We have to play St. Ben’s again and Gustavus, so those will be two tough games, but hopefully we can pull it off.”
St. Thomas faces Carleton at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9 at home .
Rebecca Omastiak can be reached at omas5009@stthomas.edu.