The first round of the NCAA D-III women’s basketball tournament kicked off Friday night at Schoenecker Arena with St. Thomas (28-0 overall, 18-0 MIAC) knocking off the Minnesota-Morris Cougars 70-31.

After leading by 20 at halftime, the Tommies came out in the second half and wasted little time burying the Cougars. Coach Ruth Sinn attributed the team’s success to its defense.

“That’s one of the things that we pride ourselves on – our defense,” Sinn said. “Morris is a very good team. They’ve got some excellent shooters. They do a really nice job, so I was proud of (our) girls. I thought they did a nice job of making sure they took tough, contested shots, and that’s all we can really control.”

One of the main stories surrounding the Tommies is the injury to forward Anna Smith. After missing most of last season with a torn ACL, Smith suffered another knee injury in the MIAC championship game last week. Despite that, the senior strapped on a brace and played through the injury.

“It’s good,” Smith said. “No pain, so that’s good. It’s just getting used to playing with a brace, but it’s as good as it can be.”

Forward Maggie Weiers led St. Thomas with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Weiers said the team rallied around Smith as she played through her injury.

“That’s just a testament to what our team is,” Weiers said. “We’re tough players, and Anna (Smith) is the epitome of that. So having her out there on the floor, it’s … inspiring to be playing next to her. It just makes you want to play for your team even more.”

Sinn agreed and added that the key to the team’s continued success is focus.

“We have to understand what our identity is – what our goals are,” Sinn said. “And not let anything detract us from that. I think this team has really shown that. No matter what … we just are going to keep focused on what we’re going to do and what our goals our, and Anna (Smith) is just showing that. You’re not going to deny us.”

The St. Thomas only allowed fewer than 31 points one other time this season in a 69-30 win against Macalester in the regular season. Despite their many strengths, the Tommies have leaned heavily on their defense all season.

“We really focused on locking it down defensively and having a good help side,” Smith said. “It was an adjustment we made in the second half, which you could really tell because they only had 8 points in the second half.”

With the win, St. Thomas earned the right to play in the second round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night at Schoenecker Arena. They will face off against Luther, who offed St. Norbert 72-61 earlier Friday night.

“(Luther) is a high-energy team,” Sinn said. “They’re going to bring a lot of players. They’ve got a lot of depth, and they’re going to try and make it a frenetic pace, and it’s going to be our responsibility to control that. It’s going to be fun.”

Andrew Frentz can be reached at fren2218@stthomas.edu.