Tommie first-year Autumn McCall scored two points against the Eagles. (Caroline Raleigh/The Crest) 
Tommie senior Faith Feuerbach led the night in points for the Tommies. (Caroline Raleigh/The Crest) 
The Tommies are now 0-3 following Friday’s loss. (Caroline Raleigh/The Crest) 
St. Thomas graduate guard Jada Hood has had a successful start to her first season with the Tommies. (Caroline Raleigh/The Crest)
St. Thomas women’s basketball fell to Eastern Michigan 52-41 Friday night at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena.
St. Thomas has dropped three straight games to start the season for the first time in the Division I era. It’s also head coach Ruth Sinn’s first time winless after three games in her tenure at St. Thomas.
“I told the girls in the locker room, ‘At practice you guys have the same pressure.’ We have the guys playing against them, and they execute and they do the things that we’re supposed to. But today, we lost our head,” Sinn said.
The fourth quarter started with Eastern Michigan leading 34-31, but the Eagles finished the game on a 18-10 to put the Tommies away. Senior guard Faith Feuerbach scored six points in the final two minutes but the deficit was too large.
“We started in the first quarter being the aggressor. We were getting to the free-throw line. Defensively, we were getting them out of rhythm, and as the game went on, the tides turned. And they started being the ones that were the aggressors,” Sinn said.
Feuerbach played 39 minutes, scoring a career-high 13 points in six attempts and seven free throws. She also grabbed four rebounds and racked up one assist.
“She’s kind of a glue player for us,” Sinn said. “She’s the one telling people, ‘You need to be over here.’ She’s also our D-stopper … We ask a lot of Faith, but she is our calming presence, and we need her to continue to exert that. But she does a great job. She loves this opportunity.”
Sophomore forward Alyssa Sand was second on the team with 12 points. Her nine rebounds on Friday are a season-high for the Tommies.
The Tommies continue to struggle from the three-point line, only scoring from beyond the arc once for a second consecutive game. Ruth said the team needs “to shoot a little bit better” and take advantage of post-scoring opportunities, especially from junior forward Savannah McGowan.
“We went into her. We went back out, which caused them to stretch and then we can go back in. But that’s something we haven’t experienced in a game, which we will, especially if we shoot 7% from three, that we gotta start understanding. There could be the advantage. Even just to draw the double and go out,” Sinn said.
EMU scored 26 points off 24 Tommie turnovers. Sinn said the defense stepped up after allowing 52 points, and that she would expect a win out of that effort.
St. Thomas is set to play the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Sunday at the Anderson Arena. The game is scheduled at 1 p.m.
“We got a very young team right now, and I don’t know if they understand offensively sometimes when I’m saying things as far as what we need to do and where we need to get the advantages. We’re still learning that,” Sinn said.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.
