University of Toledo
AKRON
Toledo Defeats Akron in MAC Action, 58-40
12/6/2003 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
AKRON, OH - Toledo continued its dominance of Akron Saturday afternoon at the James A. Rhodes Arena, claiming a 58-40 victory in Mid-American Conference action.
The Rockets, who have won 30 straight over the Zips dating back to 1980, improve to 6-7 overall, 2-0 in the league.
Senior Karin Hoogendam led UT with 20 points and had a career-high tying 14 rebounds for her ninth career double-double and fourth of the season. She also added three blocks in 28 minutes of action. Freshman Aaron Richmond played her best game with the Midnight Blue and Gold, finishing with a career-best 13 points, including three, three-point field goals.
"I really liked Karin's and Aaron's play today," Toledo Head Coach Mark Ehlen said. "This was a huge game for Aaron off our bench. I have been waiting for her to have a break out game and shoot the ball well."
Hoogendam's dominance in the post enabled the Rockets to hold a commanding 57-30 rebounding edge, including a 23-3 margin on the offensive end, and a 26-4 advantage on points in the paint. Toledo came into the contest averaging a little more than five less rebounds per game than its opponents, lowest in the MAC. Nine UT players had at least four rebounds in the game. The 57 rebounds is a season-high and the most since UT pulled down 50 caroms vs. Youngstown State on Dec. 6, 2003.
"I was really happy with the way we rebounded," Ehlen said. "We were dominant on the boards and coming into this game, we had not done that. Rebounding was the one thing we talked about that we wanted to control on both ends. To limit a team to three offensive rebounds is a great job."
Both teams shot the ball poorly from the floor with Toledo connecting on only 29.4 percent (20-of-68) of its field-goal attempts, while Akron hit just 24.5 percent (12-of-49). But it was the Rockets' defense that stepped to the forefront, holding the Zips scoreless for a 10-plus minute stretch over the course of both halves.
The Zips though led 18-13 with 7:02 to go in the first half when Angie Hutchinson knocked down a pair free throws, but it was all Rockets from there as they scored the game's next 21 points, including back-to-back three-pointers by Richmond, to give the visitors a lead it would not relinquish. Hoogendam also scored 16 points before the intermission.
In the second half, the Rockets put the game away after sophomore Allison Lindborg converted a traditional three-point play, followed by a third triple by Richmond to push their lead 33-18 with17:47 left.
The Zips finally ended their scoring drought on a pair of free throws by Lindsay Hemmelgarn with 16:31 left.
UT continued to pour it on and extended its lead to as many as 23 points, before UA made one final push behind back-to-back triples by Lori Krezeczkowski and Jessie Crooks to cut it 51-37 with 2:47 left. The Rockets, though, converted 8-of-10 free throws in the waning moments to make the final, 58-40.
Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 11 when it hosts Northern Illinois at Savage Hall at 7:00 p.m.
