Sophomore forward Taylor Young’s 21 second half points propelled the St. Thomas women’s basketball team to an 83-72 overtime victory over Calvin College and a Final Four berth Saturday at the University of Chicago.

St. Thomas held an 11-point lead early in the second half, but the Knights fought back to tie the game at 69 at the end of regulation. In overtime, senior center Sarah Smith nailed a jumper to kick-start the Tommies’ 11-0 run. Knights senior guard Courtney Kurncz hit a 3-pointer with 26 seconds left, but Young hit two free throws to put the game out of reach.

The Tommies (30-1) will face Illinois-Wesleyan (26-5) in the national semifinal game at 6 p.m. CDT Friday in Holland, Mich. The winner will play either George Fox (30-0) or Amherst (30-0) in the NCAA Division III national championship game Saturday, March 17.

Young said her offensive surge in the second half came from the desire to extend her team’s season another week.

“I just really want to go to Holland,” Young said.

This season marks the first 30-win season in program history. The Tommies’ 30-game winning streak is also the longest in program history.

Coach Ruth Sinn called this team a “special group” and said they are going to enjoy the moment.

“We’re in the moment. We’re going to take a cleansing breath; we’re going to enjoy it,” Sinn said. “We’ve got one week to share with this team, and we’re going to maximize that time we have together.”

Junior all-American forward Carissa Verkaik led the Knights with 25 points. Verkaik, who has won her conference’s MVP award three consecutive years, got in foul trouble in the first half. She spent eight minutes on the bench, and Sinn said she told her players to attack the inside more in her absence.

“When she was out, they became a little more vulnerable underneath (the basket),” Sinn said.

Weiers, who spent the majority of the game guarding Verkaik, said she came into Saturday’s game with a defensive mentality, which ended up paying off offensively. She had the first eight points for her team, surpassing her two-point effort against Tufts Friday night.

“With my subconscious not being on offense, it came more easily,” Weiers said.

The lead went back-and-forth between the two teams, but with Verkaik on the bench, St. Thomas worked up to a six-point lead (the biggest by either team in the first half), thanks to its full-court deny defense. The Tommies forced 26 total turnovers, 10 more than its season average.

Sinn said the hope was that the Tommies’ full-court defense would tire the Knights out.

“We wanted it to be a 94-foot game,” Sinn said.

St. Thomas went into halftime with a 30-25 lead and led for the majority of the second half, until Calvin fought back behind Verkaik’s strong play. She scored 18 of her 25 points in the second half.

With three minutes remaining, the Knights tied the game at 63 after Kurncz rebounded a missed 3-point attempt for an easy basket. Both teams then converted free throws and tied the score again at 69.

St. Thomas had an opportunity to take the lead when Young stole the ball with 10.6 seconds left but got called for an offensive foul while driving to the basket. Calvin also had an opportunity to win it in regulation, but Kurncz missed a 3 at the buzzer, and the game went into overtime.

Sinn said that even though Calvin made a comeback, she had faith in her players to take the momentum back.

“Our season came down to five minutes, and we knew we had to put everything out on the line,” Sinn said.

And that’s what the Tommies did. They dominated both the offensive and defensive ends, going two-for-two from the field and making 10 of 12 free throws in the final five minutes.

Smith said her team was more conditioned than the Knights, which paid off in overtime.

“I think they were a little more tired, and they weren’t used to all that pressure,” Smith said. “I think we finally broke it down on them. We played more calm and hit our shots.”

After the final buzzer sounded, the Tommie bench rushed the court and celebrated. Sinn said she is looking forward to next weekend and her team always plays its best when it puts “its best foot forward.”

“If you can’t tell, we have some pretty passionate young ladies here,” Sinn said.

Hayley Schnell can be reached at schn3912@stthomas.edu.