Center Maggie Weiers scored a game-high 22 points to lead the No. 8-ranked St. Thomas women’s basketball team to a 76-43 rout over Gustavus Wednesday night at Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies opened the game on a 19-7 run, and coach Ruth Sinn said the team’s fast start carried the team for the rest of the game.

“We like the pace to go up and down. We play a lot of players as well. The positive thing is when the pace starts to go up, we start wearing teams down,” Sinn said.

Gustavus hung around for much of the first half and cut the deficit to five points with just under three minutes to play in the half, but St. Thomas scored the final 7 points of the half and led by 12 at the break.

Weiers got the scoring started in the second half before guard Jenna Dockter scored on back-to-back possessions. Dockter tied her season-high points in the win, recording 17 for the second straight game. Similar to their first half start, the Tommies went on a 20-4 run to open the second half. Sinn said her team believes in its defense.

“Our girls are hungry. We have eight seniors on this team, and they buy into defense, and they understand that sometimes our defense is our bread and butter, and no matter what happens on offense, we are going to commit to the defense end,” Sinn said.

The Gusties managed 4 points at the halfway mark of the second half and failed to score 70 points for the first time this season. Turnovers plagued Gustavus – the team committed 15 turnovers in the second half alone.

Weiers recorded 10 points, and Dockter tallied 7 to lead the charge for St. Thomas in the second half.

Forward Ava Stock scored St. Thomas’ final points with just under two minutes remaining in the contest before the Gustavus tallied the last 3 points of the game, making the final score 76-43.

Although the Tommies scored 76 points, they turned the ball over 17 times offensively. Weiers said the team has been focusing on ball security and hopes to lower that number before the post-season.

“That’s been an emphasis for the last two years. We’re trying to get our average at 14 turnovers per game, and that’s been an issue since last season, so we’re working on that and are keeping track of where we’re at each half,” Weiers said.

Prior to this season, March of 2012 was the last time Weiers, Dockter and forward Anna Smith had all been healthy and playing together at the same time.

“We’ve been playing together now for four years, and it’s just a ton of fun. We know how each other plays, and we know each other’s tendencies. It’s just really fun to read each other out there,” Weiers said.

St. Thomas will host rival St. Ben’s in its next game of the season Dec. 6.

Travis Swan can be reached swan9954@stthomas.edu.