University of Toledo
MARSHALL
Women's Basketball: Toledo Pulls Away from Marshall to Run Winning Streak to Five Straight, 70-54
1/29/2003 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
HUNTINGTON, WV - The University of Toledo women's basketball team used a 12-0 run over the course of both halves Wednesday night to pull away from Marshall and extend its winning streak to five straight, 70-54, in the Cam Henderson Center.
With tonight's win, the Rockets improve to 13-5 overall, 6-1 in the MAC, while the loss drops the Thundering Herd to 5-12 and 1-5 in the league.
"I thought the final eight-or-so minutes of the first half and initial stages of the second was one of the keys to the game," Toledo Head Coach Mark Ehlen said. "We were able to battle back and take the lead at the half. We needed to tighten up defensively, and I thought we did a real good job at that."
Trailing 35-31 with only 1:57 remaining in the first half, Toledo went on a mini 5-0 run to end the first 20 minutes and take a one-point advantage into the locker room, 36-35. A turnaround jumper by sophomore Karin Hoogendam with :47 seconds left gave UT its first lead of the game. It was a lead the Rockets would not relinquish again.
The second half started off like the first ended as UT reeled off the first seven points and 13 of the next 15 points to increase their cushion to double digits, 49-37.
Toledo's cushion reached as high as 16 points in the second half. As impressive as UT's scoring was, its second-half defense was equally as impressive. The Rockets limited the Thundering Herd to 33.3 percent shooting from the field after the intermission and only 19 second half points. The Midnight Blue and Gold also held a 31-30 advantage on the boards against the league's top rebouding team.
"Another key to tonight's victory was the great job we did battling on the boards," Ehlen said. "They (Marshall) always hit the boards hard, but I thought we did a nice job kept them from getting many second shots."
The Thundering Herd were limited to only eight offensive rebounds, while the Rockets pulled down 14 offensive caroms.
"And the final key to tonight's victory was the play of Tia (Davis)," Ehlen said. She continued to give us a tremendous effort, as I thought she played a great game."
Davis led all scorers tying her career high with 28 points, on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. Davis, who has now scored 20-or-more points in five of the last six games, also knocked down 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and had eight rebounds.
"I'm just trying to play to my God given ability," Davis said. "I got out every time and do whatever I can to help this team by successful. Thankfully so far the team and myself have been pretty successful."
Also finishing in double figures for the Rockets was junior Kelly Walker, who tallied 15 points, including 10 in the first half.
Toledo shot 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the field and committed only ten turnovers on the night. UT also made 53.3 percent (8-of-15) of its attempts from beyond the arc and connected on 66.7 percent (12-of-18) from the charity stripe.
Sikeetha Shepard-Hall led Marshall with 18 points, but only three came in the second half. The lone other Thundering Herd in double figures was Amy Reed, who finished with 14 points and four blocked shots.
Toledo returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 1 when the Rockets host defending MAC Tournament Champion Kent State at 7:00 p.m. in Savage Hall.
