Sophomore guard Lucia Renikoff gets fouled going up for a layup. Renikoff scored 17 points for St. Thomas in their game Saturday night. (Meghan Vosbeel/TommieMedia)
The women’s team cheer on their teammates from the bench. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
The Tommies explode in excitement when junior guard Maddie Wolkow hit a three pointer to tie it up at the end of the first half. The score was tied 64-64 at the end of the first half. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
First-year Janelle Alba-Garner cheers on her team from the sidelines. The St. Thomas women’s basketball team defeated Chicago 73-69 in the NCAA tournament Saturday night. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Junior shooting guard Lauren Fischer drives against a Chicago defender. Fischer scored seven points for the Tommies in their second game of the NCAA tournament Saturday Night. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Head coach Ruth Sinn draws up a play at the end of the 1st quarter. St. Thomas was down 19-18 at the end of the first quarter against Chicago. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Head coach Ruth Sinn talks to senior guard Paige Gernes during the middle of the 2nd quarter as the Tommies were fighting to take back the lead. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Senior center Kaitlin Langer beats her opponent to the basket and scores one for the Tommies. Langer led the team in points Saturday night scoring 19. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Senior guard Paige Gernes dives on the ground for a steal, resulting in a jump ball. Gernes had three steals in Saturday night’s game. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Senior guard Gabby Zehrer goes up strong for a layup. Zehrer shot 4-4 from the free throw line in Saturday night’s NCAA game against Chicago. (Meghan Vosbeek/TommieMedia)
Senior all-American Kaitlin Langer scored 19 points and commanded the lane in the final minutes to thrust second-ranked St. Thomas past the University of Chicago, 73-69, in the second round NCAA Division III tournament action Saturday at Steve Fritz Court.
Langer found herself in foul trouble early in the second half as she was forced to watch her team from the bench for the majority of the third quarter with three fouls.
The University of Chicago (19-8) fought hard against the country’s No. 2 ranked team but couldn’t find a way to stay ahead. The teams went back and forth all night, trading buckets from tip-off to the final buzzer.
“It had to have been a great game if you were just a fan. It was a game of plays, and it was a game of intense defense,” St. Thomas head coach Ruth Sinn said. “I give Chicago a lot of credit.”
The Maroons came out strong early, scoring the first five points of the game. St. Thomas (29-0) quickly responded with back-to-back three point shots. The first quarter ended with a 18-19 Chicago lead.
Maddie Wolkow caught fire while draining two three pointers in the second quarter, one of which was a buzzer beater ending the half. Chicago would not back down though, as the teams found themselves tied at 34 going into the locker rooms at halftime.
“You lose a little bit of your game plan when you’re in those frantic, emotional situations,” Langer said.
St. Thomas felt the pressure after their all-American center was sent to the bench due to foul trouble early in the third quarter. The Tommies trailed the Maroons 48-47 going into the final quarter of play.
“They were being the aggressors,” guard Lucia Renikoff said.
Langer said they managed to turn that aggression around by heading to the free throw line time after time in the fourth quarter.
“The free throws shows how aggressive we were,” Langer said. “They were controlling the pace of the game, and that had to switch.”
St. Thomas will play the Marymount University (24-5) on Friday, March 10. Time and location will be determined later.
Gamiel Hall can be reached at hall0211@stthomas.edu.