Nov. 2 was college basketball’s Christmas Day as most teams around the country opened their respective 2026-27 seasons. This includes the two St. Thomas basketball teams, now in their second season as a full Division I member.
Tommies women return entire roster under new coach
St. Thomas is one of just 14 Division I women’s basketball programs that didn’t lose a single player to the transfer portal after the 2025-26 season. This despite the fact that longtime coach Ruth Sinn retired at season’s end.
As a result, the team returns all nine players from last season, and added three first-year players.
“I’m not shocked that everybody stayed,” junior Savannah Gardner told MSR after last Friday’s open practice to the media. “Everybody loves the university and (the) facility is great. Why would you want to leave that?”
She and senior Savannah McGowen are the team’s only Black players. Gardner (Apple Valley/Eastview H.S.) is majoring in biology and saw action in seven games as a sophomore last season. McGowen (Plymouth/Robbinsdale Armstrong) transferred from Illinois State last season and appeared in 28 games, with 20 starts.
This year’s Tommies coaching staff has nine new faces, including Head Coach Mandy Pearson and Janay Morton, the only Black assistant on staff. Pearson coached at Minnesota Duluth (2015-26) and Saint Mary’s University (2007-15) and is UST’s fifth head coach in school history.
Morton was at Minnesota State the past five years, where she also was the only Black assistant on staff. In her third season there, the Mavericks won the 2024 NCAA Division II national championship and the NSIC regular-season and postseason titles. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native and Osseo grad played her college ball at Eastern Michigan and Nebraska.
“The coaches are doing a great job just having us do different workouts and drills to get us entertaining,” reported McGowen. “There has been a tremendous amount of growth over the summer and that’s really exciting to see.”
Said Morton, “Everything’s new and they stuck with it. Our team has embraced everything that we have given them.”
UST opened earlier this week at Northern Iowa (Nov. 2) and hosts former MIAC league mates Bethel (Nov. 4) and St. Kate’s (Nov. 10) at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena, where the Tommies this season will play six non-conference games in November and December.
“I think our team get along really well, and you can see that chemistry on the court as well,” surmised Gardner.
Tommies, Gophers meet for first time at The Barn
Minnesota hoops history will take place this Friday, Nov. 6, at the former Williams Arena, now officially known as The Barn: the largest private university in Minnesota visits the state’s largest public university in a Goliath vs. David clash as St. Thomas plays Minnesota in the first meeting of the state’s two Division I men’s basketball programs.
“I think it’s a game that young people around the state grew up knowing that Minnesota was the only Division I program, and now they have two unbelievable (programs),” St. Thomas Coach Johnny Tauer last Friday told reporters, including MSR. “One is in the Big Ten and one is in the Summit League in St. Paul. They both play really good basketball.”
“I think it is David vs. Goliath,” said the coach on his mid-major Tommies playing the Power 4 Gophers. “There’s no difference as we play Creighton or Marquette. I think it will be a really fun game.”
More importantly, Friday’s contest could be the start of an annual non-conference contest a la Iowa-Iowa State, especially now that St. Thomas continues to establish itself at the Division I level – three straight 20-win campaigns and a trip to the 2024-25 Summit League championship game. On one of the state’s biggest basketball stages, the historic raised floor, the game presents an opportunity to examine what more regular matchups between Minnesota’s Division I programs could mean for fans, recruiting, the sport’s visibility and the overall health of college basketball in the state.
MSR will be there and provide a post-event report in next week’s edition.
Next month, history will be made again when the St. Thomas and Minnesota women meet Dec. 2 at The Barn in their first-ever Division I matchup.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses at challman@spokesman-recorder.com.
Copyright © Charles Hallman