Piper women fall to St. Thomas in basketball

The Pipers’ Britta Schwarzthoff (Jr., Hayward, Wis.) scored the opening jumper of the game, but the Tommies scored the next 13 points to climb to a 13-2 lead in the first seven minutes. Hamline fought themselves back into the game, dropping the Tommie advantage to just six points at halftime, 32-26.

St. Thomas came out strong after the break, with Carrie Embree (Sr., Waukee, Iowa) scoring the first three points of the half on a jumper and a free throw, followed by a jumper by Jessica Katch (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa), who tallied 25 points and eight rebounds in the game.

The Pipers battled back once again, when Grave Weinreich’s (Jr., Wahkon, Minn.) layup narrowed the Tommie lead to four points at 44-40 with 11 minutes remaining in the game.

At that point, St. Thomas' Katch scored three points on a jumper and free throw, followed by a successful three-point shot shot by Tommie Anna Swanson (Jr., Richfield, Minn.) to take the score up to 50-40, in favor of the visitors.

St. Thomas maintained that lead for the rest of the game, with a jumper by Krystal Tschumperlin (Jr., Watkins, Minn.) just before the end of the game keeping the margin of victory in single-digits.

Hamline was led by Weinreich’s 13 points, while Tschumperlin contributed 11. Schwartzhoff led the Pipers defensively with eight rebounds.

In addition to Katch’s 25 points, Swanson had 14. Embree contributed 10 rebounds for the Tommies.

The Tommies improved to 3-1, 2-0 MIAC, while the Pipers fell to 2-2, 1-2 MIAC. Hamline will head on the road on Wednesday, December 5, to take on Saint Mary’s at 5:45 p.m. in Winona.

Hamline University belongs to the NCAA Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in the nation. Hamline supports 19 intercollegiate athletic teams for men and women. Find out more about Hamline athletics at www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics.

Creative and innovative teaching and learning attract a diverse student body of nearly 4,600 undergraduate and graduate students to Hamline University. Challenged to create and apply knowledge in local and global contexts, Hamline students develop an individual and community ethic of social justice, civic responsibility, and inclusive leadership and service.

Ranked first in Minnesota among comprehensive master’s universities by U.S.News & World Report, Hamline is also Minnesota’s first university, founded in 1854, and among the first co-educational institutions in the nation.