Erica Opdahl scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half and Kristi Huegel scored 10 of her 13 points in the second half as host St. Thomas scored a 65-54 win over Bethel Saturday in MIAC women's basketball play in UST's Schoenecker Arena.
Anne Laraway added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Tommies (13-12 overall, 12-10 MIAC), who clinched at least a .500 finish for the 26th time in the 27-year history of their program. The Toms will play on the road Monday night in the first round of the MIAC playoffs at the third seed, either Gustavus or Concordia.
St. Thomas made 20-of-29 at the foul line and outrebounded Bethel 56-43 to offset its 30% shooting from the field.
Jen Ahlberg had a game-high 16 points and JoLynn Thielke had 12 of her 14 points in the first half for Bethel (11-14, 9-13), which finished alone in seventh in the conference.
The Tommies used an 18-4 first-half run to build a 21-14 lead. They led 37-33 at halftime, and the Royals were never closer than two in the second half. Bethel went over 10:30 without a field goal after Ahlberg's 3-pointer with 11:57 to play.
Please visit for the official Box Score: http://www.stthomas.edu/tommies/WBB/stats/2-21wb.htm