CLEVELAND, OH  - No. 6 seed Toledo (24-8) will look to make its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2001 when it faces No. 4 seed Northern Illinois (21-10) on Saturday, March 11 in Quicken Loans Arena. Tip-off time is set for 11:00 a.m. and will be televised on the CBS Sports Network. 

The Rockets advanced to the title game for the first time since 2010 and 14th time overall with victories against Akron, 65-37, on Monday, March 6, MAC East Division champion Kent St., 67-63, on Wednesday and reigning MAC Tournament champion Buffalo, 72-65, on Friday. 

Freshman Mariella Santucci led UT with a career-high 21 points against the Bulls. Santucci, who was shooting 29.2 percent from the field entering the contest, connected on 9-of-14 shots, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, to lift the Midnight Blue & Gold to its season-high seventh-straight victory. Junior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott added 12 points and sophomore Mikaela Boyd had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

UT held a 51-39 lead going into the fourth quarter, then held off a late UB rally in the final 10 minutes. Boyd made 4-of-6 free throws in the last minute to squash any hopes for the Bulls.

Toledo, which is 12-4 away from home, continues to be fueled offensively by the quintet of senior Janice Monakana, Bravo-Harriott, Boyd, sophomore Kaayla McIntyre and Santucci, who are tallying 12.7, 11.9, 11.8, 10.1 and 7.4 ppg, respectively.

Santucci has been superb offensively in the MAC Tournament, averaging a squad-high 14.0 ppg.

The Huskies advanced to tomorrow's finals for the first time in program history with an impressive 83-55 victory against Western Michigan on Friday. NIU utilized a balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures, led by Courtney Woods' and Ally Lehman's 19 and 17 points, respectively.

Northern Illinois, which is 12-6 away from  home, features a high-powered offense with five players tallying at least 10.6 points per game, led by Lehman and Woods tallying 18.2 and 16.9 ppg, respectively.

NIU is currently leading the MAC in scoring offense (85.6 ppg), as well as ranking second in three-point field-goal percentage (.356, 240-of-674) and third in overall field-goal percentage (.434, 954-of-2,197), while the Rockets are first in all three categories - scoring defense (61.3 ppg), overall field-goal percentage defense (.368, 688-of-1,872) and three-point field-goal percentage defense (.262, 157-of-600).

Toledo and Northern Illinois will square off for the third time this year and 52nd time overall. The MAC West Division rivals split their two regular-season match-ups with the away team emerging victorious both times. Toledo suffered a 77-73 home setback on Jan. 14 in Savage Arena, before claiming a 79-75 road victory on March 1 in the Convocation Center.

Monakana tallied a team-high 24.0 points and 14.0 caroms in the two regular-season meetings, while converting 50.0 percent (17-of-34) from the floor. McIntyre, Boyd and  Bravo-Harriott also averaged double figures for the Midnight Blue & Gold, contributing 14.5, 12.0 and 11.5 ppg, respectively.

As a team, Toledo shot 36.1 percent (57-of-158) from the field, including 27.1 percent (13-of-48) from three-point land, and 59.5 percent (25-of-42) from the charity stripe. 

Toledo leads the all-time series against Northern Illinois, 32-19, including a 3-1 mark in the MAC Tournament. 

They most recently squared off in the quarterfinals of the 2012 post-season tourney in Cleveland, with the Rockets securing a 72-62 neutral-court victory.