Tipping Off
Coming off a four-game home stand, the Mavericks will open the final month of the regular season on the road when they head to St. Paul, Minnesota for a 7 p.m. game at St. Thomas this Thursday.

The game can be heard on 1180 The Zone with Jon Schriner on the call. Links to live stats, audio and video are available on OMavs.com.

Quick Hits

• The Mavericks dropped the final two games of their home stand last week, falling 64-55 to Kansas City on Thursday, before forcing overtime with a late, fourth quarter comeback against Oral Roberts, only to fall just short at 94-90. After going 0-4 at home the last two weeks, Omaha is currently 9-13 overall and 4-7 in the Summit League, placing them dead center in the league standings with seven games to go,
• Omaha outshot ORU 48.6% (36-for-74) to 43.6% (34-for-78) and bested them in FT% 92.3% (12-for-13) to 60.9% (14-for-23). However, the Golden Eagles edged them out in 3-PT FG% at 41.4% (12-for-29) to 26.1% (6-for-23) and in total rebounds (47 to 40).
• Elena Pilakouta had a career day vs. ORU with 30 points (12-for-16, 75.0%) and a career-high 15 total rebounds to earn her third double-double of the season. This was her 18th double-digit scoring game this year and her 8th straight, setting a new personal record. Pilakouta now has 316 points (14.3 PPG) this season and also increased her FG% to 61.9% (130-for-210), slotting her in at 10th in the entire NCAA. In Omaha's first meeting with St. Thomas this year she scored 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
• Kennedi Grant tied her career high with 19 points on Saturday to earn her 11th double-digit scoring game of the season and officially cross the 200-point mark for the first time with 204 points (10.9 PPG). She had 11 points and two assists vs. St. Thomas last month. 
• Likewise, Aaliyah Stanley also had her 11th double-digit scoring game of the season vs. ORU with 15 points, giving her 266 (12.1 PPG) on the year to break into the top 10 in the league in scoring. She led Omaha with 20 points and three 3-PT FGs against St. Thomas in their last meeting.
• Grace Cave added four more assists vs. ORU to give her 66 on the season, good for ninth in the league, while her 36 steals tie her for sixth in the Summit. She also scored double-digits vs. St. Thomas last time with 16 points.

Scouting the Tommies
The Tommies are right behind Omaha in the standings at 8-13 overall and 3-8 in the conference. They went 1-1 on the road last week, falling 57-99 to South Dakota State before bouncing back and defeating South Dakota 70-64.

In their meeting with Omaha earlier this season, the Tommies held a slim 44-39 lead heading into halftime before ultimately falling 80-77 in overtime. They outshot the Mavericks on 3-PT FGs (43.5% to 40.0%) and FTs (91.7% to 72.7%), but were bested in overall FG% at 47.8% to 44.4%.

Senior guard Maggie Negaard is 13th in the Summit League and first on the Tommies with 256 points (12.2 PPG), recently setting a career high with 28 points vs. Western Illinois two weeks ago. Against Omaha this season, Negaard led St. Thomas with 19 points and seven total rebounds.

Sophomore forward Jordyn Lamker is St. Thomas' leading rebounder with 91 boards, as well as pacing the team with 15 blocked shots. She recorded four rebounds, a block, and two assists vs. Omaha this season.

Sophomore guard Jade Hill also cracks the Summit League's top 20 in scoring with 230 points (11.0 PPG). Her 72 assists and 38 steals both lead the Tommies and are top 10 in the conference. Hill racked up a team-high six assists along with 16 points vs. the Mavericks this year.

Head Coach Ruth Sinn has spent her entire 18-year head coaching career at St. Thomas, compiling a 370-122 record, including a 7-21 mark in their first season in Division I in 2021-22. She also guided the Tommies 
to 13 MIAC titles while in Division III.

All-Time Against St. Thomas
With only three games in the all-time series, Omaha currently holds the 2-1 advantage over the Tommies, narrowly edging them out 80-77 in overtime earlier this season. In those three games, Pilakouta has totaled 41 points and 21 rebounds, while Grant has 19 points and five rebounds.