Toledo Gets Tripped Up at MAC East Division Leader Ohio, 61-55

Saturday, February 4

Athens, OH

3:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

14-7 (5-5MAC)

Ohio

17-5 (8-3MAC)

Toledo

Ohio

Senior Janice Monakana had a team-high 18 points at Ohio on Saturday.

Toledo Gets Tripped Up at MAC East Division Leader Ohio, 61-55

2/4/2017 7:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Toledo at Ohio Box Score

ATHENS, OH – Toledo dropped a 61-55 decision at Ohio on Saturday in Mid-American Conference action in the Convocation Center. With the loss, the Rockets fall to 14-7 overall, 5-5 in the league.

The MAC East Division leading Bobcats (16-5, 8-3 MAC) utilized a game-changing 16-0 run late in the second quarter to establish a lead they would not relinquish.

Senior Janice Monakana paced the Rockets with 18 points, followed by junior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott with 15 and sophomore Mikaela Boyd had 13. Boyd was also credited with a collegiate-best 15 rebounds to post her fifth career double-double.

UT was stymied offensively by one of the MAC's top defenses, shooting only 35.0 percent (14-of-40) from the field, including 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from three-point range, and 76.7 percent (23-of-30) from the charity stripe.

The Rockets were also their own worst enemy against the two-time defending MAC regular-season champions, finishing with a season-low four assists and and a season-high 22 turnovers. Ohio took full advantage of those miscues and translated them into 29 points to improve to 10-1 at home.

Yamonie Jenkins led the Bobcats with 12 points, while Hannah Boesinger and Amani Burke had 11 each and MAC Player of the Year candidate Quiera Lampkins totaled 10 to help them claim their fourth-straight victory over UT.

UT held a 12-7 advantage at the end of the opening period, despite no points being scored by either team over the final 4:31. The Midnight Blue & Gold benefited from hitting five of their first six free throws to hold a five-point cushion at the conclusion of the first 10 minutes. Toledo also forced Ohio to miss 11 of its 13 shots from the floor, and the home team's seven points tied a season low.

Toledo then extended its lead to 19-13 on the strength of back-to-back treys from Bravo-Harriott and Monakana with 6:11 left in the opening half.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, they tallied only three points for the remainder of the quarter and Ohio went on the pivotal run to make it a 31-22 difference at the intermission. Four different Bobcats scored points in the late rally to turn a six-point deficit into a nine-point advantage. Katie Barker started the burst with consecutive triples, before Burke capped it with five-straight points.

UT came out of the break energized and scored 10 of 12 points to cut the deficit to 35-32 at the 6:19 mark. The Rockets did a bulk on their damage on the interior, converting three layups to make it a one-possession game.

Ohio's Taylor Agler stopped the momentum with a triple and added another as the quarter expired to make Toledo's deficit 46-40 heading into the final stanza.

The Bobcats' continued to knock down shots to start the fourth period, as Burke hit her second trey to extend the margin to double figures, 55-44, with 5:39 left in regulation.

UT did not go down without a fight though, retaliating with a quick 7-2 burst to close within 57-51 with 1:56 remaining in regulation.

Trailing by two possessions with less than two minutes remaining, Toledo needed a defensive stop, but Burke burned them with a traditional three-point play to put the final dagger into the Midnight Blue & Gold.

The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 8 when they travel to MAC West Division foe Western Michigan (14-7, 5-5 MAC). The opening tip versus the Broncos is slated for 7:00 p.m. in University Arena.

UT and WMU will square off for the first of two match-ups during the 2017 MAC campaign and the 75th time overall. Toledo leads the all-time series, 53-21, and has won the last five meetings against its division foe.

A year ago, UT swept the regular-season series for the third time in the last four years, securing an 80-73 home victory (Jan. 9) and an 80-68 road win (Feb. 3).