The No. 8-ranked St. Thomas women’s basketball team found its stroke from behind the arc Saturday afternoon at Schoenecker Arena. The Tommies hit 10 3-pointers as a team, and forward Anna Smith registered a double-double in the 75-58 victory over rival St. Ben’s.

Smith scored 17 points – including three of the team’s 3-pointers – and posted 10 rebounds, while guard Hannah Hughes chipped in four 3s of her own.

Not a regular from deep, Smith said hitting her shots was good to see after missing so much time last season.

“It’s good to be back shooting again,” Smith said. “I’ve only made one (3-pointer) before that. It’s not that I can’t shoot, I just haven’t taken the shots, so it was good that they were falling today.”

The Tommies (6-0 overall, 2-0 MIAC) left no doubt they were ready for the game, as they jumped out to a 20-point lead at half, 39-19.

Defense was the key to the first-half success, according to coach Ruth Sinn.

“We made them have to take tough shots and did a great job defensively,” Sinn said. “When our defense is going, that creates our offense. If we can get teams to take contested shots, then we can rebound and we can run.”

Sinn feels her team has an advantage on the fast break, not just against St. Ben’s (2-4 overall, 0-2 MIAC) but against all its opponents.

“We are very athletic, so what we want to do is sprint the floor and space the floor and see if we can get some advantages,” Sinn explained. “When it goes like that, when it’s flowing, we’re usually going to gain an advantage in that segment.”

The Tommies were able to use that athleticism to gain an early lead, tallying nine of their 13 steals in the first half and racking up 25 points off turnovers in the game.

Guard Jenna Dockter had three of those steals, as well as 10 points and eight assists. She echoed her coach, saying the team’s defense was key to victory.

“A big emphasis of ours lately has been taking the first five minutes of the half to come out strong and focused and set the tone for the rest of the game,” Dockter said. “Defensively, we knew they had some really strong guard play, so we just wanted to try and pack the lane, be in help defense like we always are and communicate.”

One of the players the Tommie defense had to focus on was forward Mattie Lueck, who came into the game leading St. Ben’s in scoring, assists and rebounds.

Lueck managed 18 points against the tough Tommie defense, while also amounting five rebounds and three assists.

Despite an inspired run by the Blazers in the second half, the Tommies’ prowess from deep proved too much to overcome. Averaging 30.5 percent from downtown on the season, St. Thomas shot 52.6 percent against St. Ben’s, a feat not overlooked by the team.

“It was great to see (shots) start falling,” Dockter said. “So far this year we have gotten some great open looks from three, so it was really nice to see all the girls knocking them down today.”

Sinn was also quick to praise the team’s shooting stroke.

“We do have those shooters, there is no question about it,” Sinn said.

St. Thomas will enjoy a much-needed week-long break before looking to keep its hot shooting going next Saturday when it travels to Augsburg.

Scott Sikich can be reached at siki3549@stthomas.edu.