OMAHA, Neb. - For the second time this season, the Mavericks have won three games in a row after topping St. Thomas 80-77 in an overtime stunner Saturday afternoon at Baxter Arena. This is the first time Omaha has beat three consecutive Summit League opponents since the 2013-14 season.

The Mavericks are back over .500 for the first time since December 1 as they improve to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in the Summit League. The Tommies drop to 5-11 as they continue to seek their first conference victory at 0-5. 

With eight wins on the season, the Mavericks have their highest win total since the 2018-19 season with 14 games left to play.

Leaders For Omaha 
Aaliyah Stanley continues to roll as she once again led the team in scoring with 20 points, shooting 8-for-13 (61.5%) with three from behind the arc. In the past three games she has scored 75 points, increasing her season total to 190 points and her PPG to 12.7.

Elena Pilakouta topped 10 points for the 11th time this season with 15 after going 7-for-12 (58.3%). She was also Omaha's leading rebounder yet again with eight today.

Likewise, Grace Cave had her 10th game of the season with double-digit points as she scored 16. She also led the Mavericks with four assists, giving her 44 on the season, tying her 2021-22 total.

Kennedi Grant also hit double-digits with 11 points. In her first two games back since returning from injury she has 20 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Leaders for St. Thomas
Four Tommies scored double-digit points today, led by Maggie Negaard with 19. She was also tied for the lead in rebounds with seven alongside double-digit scorers Jordyn Glynn and Jo Langbehn. 

Team Stats 
The Mavericks outshot the Tommies .478 (32-for-67) to .444 (28-for-63), though, St. Thomas did actually have the edge in three-pointers (.435, 10-for-23 vs. .400, 8-for-20) and free throws (.971, 11-for-12 vs. .727, 8-for-11). 

That said, Omaha held huge advantages in points in the paint (40 to 28) and second chance points (15 to 6). The Mavericks also held the edge in rebounds (38 to 33).

Inside the First Quarter 
The Mavericks quickly found themselves in a 10-2 hole just two and a half minutes into the game. Like has happened many times this season, though, Stanley provided the spark to get Omaha back in the game with back-to-back layups. Polina Nikulochkina later got Omaha within three when she sunk a trio of free throws.

After the first timeout, the Tommies regained an eight-point lead despite six points each for Grant and Morgann Gardner. Grant did manage to end the first on a high note for Omaha as she drained a three just before time expired to make it 20-24.

Inside the Second Quarter 
Following an opening layup from Grant, the Tommies came back and scored nine unanswered to go up 33-22 by 7:56. After taking a 30-second timeout, however, the Mavericks quickly regrouped and took back control of the game, outscoring St. Thomas 17-11 over the next eight minutes.

Cave got the rally started with a three right out of the timeout, before nailing a turnaround jumper a few seconds later. It was back and forth over the next few minutes, with Stanley eventually getting the Mavericks within four with her first three-pointer of the day at 3:04. Cave would make one last jumper with just over a minute to go as Omaha ended the half down 39-44.

Inside the Third Quarter 
It was all Mavericks at the start of the third as Pilakouta kicked off the second half with a quick layup, before Katie Keitges tied up the game with her first three-pointer of the day. The Mavericks also pulled down three defensive rebounds to completely blank St. Thomas in the first three minutes.

The Tommies were able to hold on to a slim lead for a couple more minutes, until an amazing effort from Grant who caught them flat footed and lunged for the offensive board before turning around and making the go-ahead layup with just over three minutes left. Stanley would finish off the quarter for the Mavericks with another from behind the arc with 12 seconds left, as both teams were deadlocked 59-59.

Inside the Fourth Quarter 
The final period proved to be the closest yet as both teams traded leads right down to the wire. Nikulochkina put the Mavericks back up with her first three of the day just a minute in, only for Faith Feuerbach to answer with a three of her own for St. Thomas. Three straight buckets from Cave and Gardner would give Omaha a 68-64 lead with six minutes remaining, but once again the Tommies responded with six straight to pull ahead with four minutes left.

Down 73-71 with 1:13 on the clock, Pilakouta snatched a rebound and tipped it in to tie it back up. 30 seconds later, St. Thomas again retook the lead on two free throws from Jade Hill. Fortunately, Stanley came in clutch with the game-tying bucket with 29 seconds left to send it to overtime.

Overtime
The Tommies struck first in OT with a quick layup from Jordyn Glynn, but the Mavericks were prepared as Pilakouta and Stanley responded with a layup and a three-pointer to make it 80-77 Mavericks. From there, it was all up to the defense as Stanley and Mitchell each had two defensive boards in the last two minutes to ice the game for Omaha.

Next Up 
The Mavericks will be back on the road next week when they head up north to take on North Dakota on Thursday, January 12, followed by North Dakota State on Saturday, January 14.