Junior forward Sarah Smith scored 18 points and senior center Rachel Booth chipped in 17 points as the host Tommies won the outright MIAC championship and secured the top seed for next week's playoffs with Saturday afternoon's 80-47 women's basketball victory over St. Ben's.

The Tommies (19-6 overall, 18-4 MIAC) shot 59 percent (32-of-54) and improved to 10-1 in home conference games this season. They have won or shared the MIAC regular-seson or playoff title in three of the last four seasons.

They will get a first-round bye Tuesday and play a semfinal game Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against either fourth-seed Gustavus, fifth-seed Bethel or sixth-seed Macalester.

UST shot 57 percent from the field in the first half (16-of-28) en route to a 39-17 lead at halftime. They used an early 16-0 run to build a 22-8 lead with 8:00 left in the half. The Blazers had 12 turnovers and shot only 27 percent in the first half.

St. Thomas came back with a 14-0 run early in the second half and led by as many as 38 points in the closing minutes.

The Blazers (19-6, 16-6) had an impressive five-year string of MIAC titles or co-titles end. They missed a chance to get a first-round playoff bye and will be the third seed in the six-team playoffs. Laura Canton and Amy Stifter each scored eight points to lead St. Ben's. The Blazers shot just 29 percent on the game.

Tommie freshmen Taylor Young (12 points) and Maggie Weiers (eight) and Ali Johnson (eight) hekped UST post a 38-25 advantage in bench scoring. Weiers had a game-best 11 rebounds.