Wartburg’s Morgan Neuendorf celebrates the team’s win after shaking hands with the Tommie players. St. Thomas fell 66-70 in the NCAA sectional semifinals Friday night. (Carlee Hackl)
Center Kaitlin Langer looks toward the basket. Langer had nine rebounds Friday. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Guard Paige Gernes shoots a free throw. Gernes had 114 game points this season. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Guard Katie Stone follows through on a shot around Wartburg’s Miranda Murphy. Stone scored 13 points for the Tommies Friday night. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Gernes takes an elbow in the face from Wartburg offense. The junior scored 12 points, three steals and four rebounds for St. Thomas during Friday’s game. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Stone looks toward her teammates between plays. Stone had 405 points this season and averaged 13.5 points per game. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Wartburg players cheer on their teammates. Wartburg will take on University of Texas-Tyler Saturday night in St. Paul. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Coach Ruth Sinn yells after a play. Sinn coached the Tommies into first place in the MIAC Championship last year. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Langer makes her way through Wartburg the defense and toward the basket. The junior scored 27 points Friday. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Langer jumps to block a shot. She had 536 points for St. Thomas through the season and averaged 17.9 points per game. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Guard Paige Gernes focuses before a free throw. St. Thomas and Wartburg were neck-and-neck through most of Friday’s game. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Despite 27 points from forward Kaitlin Langer, the St. Thomas women’s basketball team ended its season after falling to Wartburg 70-66 in a Sweet Sixteen matchup Friday night at Schoenecker Arena.
The No. 8-ranked Tommies (26-4), who were pursuing their second straight trip to the Elite Eight, held a 33-29 lead at the half but were unable to answer Wartburg’s clutch shots down the stretch. The Knights (22-7) finished the game shooting ten of 19 from 3-point range and had five players score in double-figures.
“They answered when they needed to answer,” coach Ruth Sinn said. “They did a great job from the arc, and that was kind of the story of the game. You have to give (Wartburg) a lot of credit because they came ready to play.”
It was a tale of two halves for St. Thomas’ shooting. After shooting 68 percent from the field in the first half, the Tommies shot just 39 percent in the second half and finished with 21 turnovers.
Katie Sommer led Wartburg with 13 points, while Kristie Sommer chipped in 12 points. Aryn Jones finished with 11 points, and Miranda Murphy and Morgan Neuendorf each added 10 points for the Knights.
The lead was back and forth for the majority of the game, as it featured four ties and 12 lead changes. No team led by more than seven points throughout the night.
Several crucial buckets late in the third quarter from Langer gave the Tommies a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter. But St. Thomas went cold in the fourth, shooting just 1-of-8 in the closing four minutes as Wartburg closed out the game to advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday. The Knights will play University of Texas-Tyler in the next round.
Langer finished the game shooting 9-of-15 and grabbed nine rebounds. Guards Paige Gernes and Katie Stone each added 12 points, and Gernes shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the field.
The Tommies graduate only two seniors, forward Mykenzie Spaulding and MIAC All-Conference guard Katie Stone, who finished her career with 988 points and the second-most 3-pointers made in school history. Her 83 3-pointers this season set a school and MIAC record.
St. Thomas hopes to build on its young talent and will return four starters next year, including MIAC Player-of-the-Year Langer. The junior became the first St. Thomas women’s basketball player to reach 500 points in a season since 2000. She recorded 17 double-doubles this season and averaged 17.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.
“I think with the combination of the coaches constantly working with me and the confidence from my teammates, it helped me have a really successful year. So I really owe it to them,” Langer said.
Sinn praised the team’s accomplishments this year despite its youth. Having lost eight seniors last season, Stone was the lone returning starter for the Tommies this season.
“For them to be able to be here and to do what they did, it is credit to Katie’s leadership, to Kaitlin stepping up, and to the young ladies in our program that stepped up,” Sinn said. “We’re a very young team, and I really give them a lot of credit.”
Joey Geske can be reached at gesk8583@stthomas.edu.