Senior center Jo Langbehn scored 17 points on 9 attempts. The Tommies had a 84-81 overtime victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Saturday at Schoenecker Arena. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest) 
Guard Faith Feuerbach, one of six seniors, was a perfect 2-2 from beyond the arc. (Evan Neubauer/The Crest)
Senior guard Jade Hill took over the game late, dropping a career-high 35 points to lead St. Thomas to an 84-81 overtime win over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in its season opener Monday night at Schoenecker Arena.
Hill shot 12-21 from the field, 9-12 on free throws and dished three assists. Her 35-point performance was also a Division I program record. She scored eight of her points in overtime.
“Our offense really is just free flowing … Anybody can score, anybody can attack any time. I think they had just seen that I was on fire and were trying to get me the ball,” Hill said.
Coach Ruth Sinn decided that that answer wasn’t good enough for her.
“Jade needs to be a little bit more boastful. She had the matchup, she had the advantage. They couldn’t stop her. Jade is too sweet to say, ‘I had the advantage and I needed to cook it,’” Sinn said.
Down 67-62 in the final 1:41 of regulation, Hill drove and finished through a foul, making the free throw to convert the and-one. She did almost the same thing during the next possession but missed her free throw, tying the game at 67.
“My teammates and my coaches put all the confidence in me to do that, and I think I wouldn’t be able to do that without them,” Hill said. “They were just in my ear telling me, ‘You got this. No one can guard you out there.’”
Junior guard Amber Scalia, a preseason All-Summit League second-team selection along with Hill, was held to just seven points. Scalia averaged around 35% from beyond the arc last season but was held to just 1-5 in the season opener. She also earned her fifth foul with 1:49 left in the fourth quarter.
The Tommies had lost by double-digits in every season opener of their D-I era until Monday. The matchup was also the team’s first time tipping off a D-I season in Schoenecker Arena.
St. Thomas’ 16-player roster has four juniors and six seniors suiting up this season, its most experienced squad in years.
“We have a senior group with our coach where we’re just like, ‘This is our year. This is our season,’” Hill said.
One of those seniors, forward Sammy Opichka, set a career-high of her own with 13 rebounds. Nine came in the second half, and five were on offense.
“When I have a good game, I’m putting all my effort into rebounding. That’s how it’s always been,” Opichka said.
Opichka added 12 points on top of her glass-cleaning.
“We all put, like Jade said, all the confidence in her, and I trusted her with the ball in her hands. I was there to clean it up if something went wrong,” Opichka said.
Opichka notched two blocks and Hill snagged two steals, but Sinn was most impressed with their defense on Milwaukee’s star.
Senior guard Kacee Baumhower scored 26 points on Monday, but 12 of them came from the free-throw line. St. Thomas held her to just 33% from the field, and she missed all six of her attempts from three-point range.
“Sammy didn’t let her get to the basket. Sammy did a really great job, and there was even at the end of the game where Jade came over and left (junior guard Kamy Peppler), the No. 2 option, which we talked about. They did it to a T,” Sinn said.
Guards senior Phoebe Frentzel and junior Faith Feuerbach also chipped in on the veteran roster. Frentzel racked up four steals and Feuerbach made both of her three-pointers.
Sinn said she hopes that the rest of the upperclassmen, along with Hill, can take a little more credit when they play well.
“I wish they had a little more swag, because they are skilled players, and they’re great defensive players and they put their whole heart into it,” Sinn said.
Senior center Jo Langbehn, who led the conference in field goal percentage last season at 66%, scored 17 points on 6-9 shooting. She recorded four rebounds and four assists.
Tommie fans were also introduced to first-year forward Alyssa Sand, who played over 16 minutes to relieve Langbehn. Sinn said she is considering putting the team’s two tallest players on the floor at the same time for future games.
“I thought she did great. We knew, and do know, that Alyssa is going to be a great player for us, not just as a backup five. I don’t think we got to play Jo and Alyssa together much, but we’re hoping to be able to play both of those two together as well,” Sinn said.
Junior guard Kammie Ludwig, who transferred from Providence College, and first-year guard Mikayla Warner also got their first minutes in Tommie purple.
The Tommies host Crown College next game. Sinn said she hopes to see her squad repeat the kind of play they had Monday, albeit a little more polished.
“It’s Nov. 4, and November games are kind of messy, and they are kind of ugly.” Sinn said. “But what I was really proud of (with) this group was how they responded down the stretch.”
That game tips off at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 at Schoenecker Arena.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.