University of Toledo
DAYTON
Toledo Tops Dayton, 73-65
12/3/2003 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
DAYTON, OH - The University of Toledo women's basketball team led from the opening tip to the final horn Wednesday night, defeating Dayton, 73-65, in Dayton Arena.
With the victory, the Rockets improve to 2-2 on the season, while the setback drops the Flyers to 1-4.
Senior Kelly Walker led the Rockets with a game-high 21 points, including 16 after the intermission. The co-captain and preseason All-MAC West Division selection drained a season-high six three pointers in UT's first road victory of the season. Junior Karin Hoogendam tallied 16 points, season-high nine rebounds and two blocks, while senior Mary Blessing dished out a season-high eight assists, while committing only one turnover.
"Kelly (Walker) made some big shots for us tonight, especially in the second half," Toledo Head Coach Mark Ehlen said. "She was able to nail a couple big shots when we needed them. I also thought Karin (Hoogendam) played her best game of the year."
Toledo shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the field, including 34.8 percent (8-of-23) from three-point land. The Rockets grabbed a season high 42 rebounds and dished out 19 assists.
"I thought we executed better offensively and did a good job rebounding," Ehlen said. "We continue to play good defense, as we have so far this season, but the difference tonight was our ability to rebound. In our other games, we could not keep people off the boards and that was the difference. They shot 36 percent from the field and had only nine offensive boards."
The Rockets led from the start of the contest, jumping out to a 15-0 lead nearly six minutes into the game. The Midnight Blue and Gold made seven of their first 11 shots, while Dayton missed their first eight shots. Toledo continued to pour it on and increased its lead to 22-2, its largest of the game, with 12:12 left and held a 38-23 advantage at the half.
To start the second half, Dayton utilized a 15-9 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Emily Williams to make it a nine-point game, 47-38, with 13:45 remaining in regulation.
After a three-pointer from Walker extended UT's lead back to double-digits, UD's Cyndi Stull scored four straight points to make it a seven-point game, 50-43, at the 10:30 mark. The Rockets misfired on their ensuing shot, but UD's Angela Cape missed the front end of a one-and-one and Walker knocked down one of her five second-half treys to make it a 10-point game again. The Flyers did cut the lead back to eight three more times but could not get any closer.
"We jumped on them pretty good at the beginning and I thought that was big, especially being on the road," Ehlen said. "We kind of stalled a little in the second half, and the game started to become a free-throw contest. We could not get them off the line and that hurt us because it kept them in the game. I thing I like is we continued to be aggressive on the road and made big shots down the stretch."
Stefanie Miller led UD with 16 points, while Williams tallied 15 points and seven rebounds. The Flyers shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field and 26.3 percent (5-of-19). Dayton shot 18-of-20 from the line, including an 8-of-8 performance from Williams.
Toledo returns home on Sat., Dec. 6 when the Rockets host Youngstown State. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Savage Hall.
