The Saints stepped onto the field house hardwood on Jan. 19 taped up, limping and without their leading scorer, sophomore forward Joslyn Narber. It became clear, however, that the pain and adversity were just what Aquinas needed to provide some invaluable grit against Indiana Tech.

Playing with something to prove after two league losses to Cornerstone and Davenport, the Saints jumped to a 18-4 lead after only 10 minutes. They used their signature active defense and hustle, and finished with a stifling 94-54 win.

The Saints scored 30 points from turnovers, but the win was highlighted by the play of two freshmen forwards, April Feldpausch and Vicky Vandyke. Feldpuasch led all scorers with 28 points, hitting four of seven beyond the arc.

“It’s not surprising,” said senior guard Claire Hogan. “April works really hard, hits open shots. She has a really quick first step that’s really hard for people to defend, and has good sense on the court.”

Meanwhile, Vandyke had nine points and nine rebounds, senior center Alicia McCarthy had 17 points, while Hogan added 14 and senior guard Whitney Marsh scored 12. These outstanding performances were even more formidable considering that head coach Linda Nash was forced to play all 10 of her available players in the game.

The contributions of Feldpausch and Vandyke are especially important, as freshmen often only play small roles in their first year as Saints.

I feel less pressure now than I did at the beginning,” said Feldpausch. “It wasn’t pressure that I couldn’t overcome with the help of coach and the team.”

Despite the two league losses, the Saints are moving forward in their league schedule and want to put the losses behind them.

“We’re focused right now and that win was important,” said Feldpausch. “We wanted to bounce back.”

The Saints will finish the first round of WHAC play on Saturday at Michigan-Dearborn. During St. Thomas Aquinas Week, the Saints will host an important rematch against 5-0 Cornerstone on Jan. 30. The Saints will be striving to correct their Jan. 5 double overtime loss at 77-73.

The Saints will wait until Feb. 9 to host Davenport. The Panthers beat the Saints 81-64 on Jan. 16. Aquinas did not have an answer for one of the nation’s best scorers, Jeanette Woodberry who had 26 points. Marsh led the Saints in scoring with 20 points. Vandyke added 12, while McCarthy and Feldpausch each had 10.

Aquinas will continue to look for new sources of scoring and minutes while Narber is out.

“It’s definitely tough without our All-American,” said Feldpausch. “But people are stepping up, like (Marsh) who is playing really well right now, and we’re all playing more minutes.”

In the games since Narber has been out of the lineup, Marsh has averaged over 16 points per game – a six point improvement on her 10 point season average.

Tonight, the Saints will host 1-4 Siena Heights at 7:30 p.m. in the field house.

“We set the tone we want for the rest of our season,” said Feldpausch. “We want to win out.”