St. Thomas women's basketball coach Ruth Sinn has spent the past three years taking trips with her administration to watch the Summit League tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D.
St. Thomas women's basketball team gets ready for its own 'Big Dance'
The Tommies will make their Summit League tournament debut on Friday against Western Illinois.
March 2, 2023 at 5:48PM
The Tommies had been given permission to make the jump from Division III to Division I in 2020, so they knew they would be playing in the tournament soon enough. Sinn was blown away by the atmosphere.
"It's a great event," Sinn said. "We're just really excited. I want our young ladies to really embrace this opportunity and make the most of it."
Sinn is proud that her program has made progress in its second season playing Division I basketball. The eighth-seeded Tommies (12-16) enter Friday's Summit tournament opener vs. Western Illinois with three more league victories than last season.
In 2021-22, St. Thomas suffered through a 13-game losing streak in conference play. The Tommies started 0-6 in the league this season but bounced back by winning seven of their last 12 games.
Senior Maggie Negaard, who earned All-Summit League second-team honors Thursday, had 21 points and five assists in a 74-68 win vs. North Dakota on Senior Night on Feb. 25. That gives Negaard and company momentum going into the postseason.
A requirement for teams making the jump to D-I is to wait five years to be eligible to play in the NCAA tournament, so St. Thomas won't have that opportunity until the 2025-26 season.
"Who doesn't want to play in March?" Sinn said. "That's the dream for every little boy and every little girl playing basketball. They talk about the excitement of playing in March. And we get to do it. This conference tournament for us is the Big Dance."
In January, the Tommies announced a $75 million donation from Lee and Penny Anderson to help build a new campus arena for basketball and hockey. The venue is expected to open in 2025, which happens to coincide with their NCAA tournament eligibility.
That's something to look forward to in the future, but St. Thomas players are now treating the Summit League tournament as the pinnacle of their season.
"We haven't beaten [Summit League champion] South Dakota State," Sinn said. "But we have a win against every other opponent in this conference. So we're excited about what we've accomplished, but there's more."
Two offensive linemen from Lakeville, Bryce Benhart and Riley Mahlman, are standouts for Big Ten rivals of Minnesota.
