University of Toledo
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Toledo Withstands Northern Illinois, 62-60
1/31/2004 12:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
TOLEDO, OH - If you only look at the boxscore, the casual fan would think Northern Illinois defeated Toledo Saturday night in Savage Hall. The Huskies outshot the Rockets from the field (54.8%-39.3%), charity stripe (84.6%-64.7%), three-point land (37.5%-15.0%) and won the battle of the boards (32-28). Well, if you thought that, you were wrong. The Rockets led from the opening tip to the final horn to pick up the 62-60 victory and remain in second place in the Mid-American Conference's West Division.
With the victory, the Rockets improve to 10-9 overall, 6-2 in the MAC, while the setback drops the Huskies to 9-10, 4-4 in the league.
"This was definitely a strange game," Toledo Head Coach Mark Ehlen said. "If you look at the stats, it would look like we lost by 15 points. But it seemed as if we had a little cushion the whole game, and they were never able to tie the score up."
Junior Karin Hoogendam led three Rockets in double figures with a game high 16 points. Senior Mary Blessing and freshman Danielle Bishop chipped in with 10 points apiece. Senior Julie Hillis added eight points and a career high 15 rebounds.
The Rockets did a nice job taking care of the ball to take themselves in the game, as they finished with 16 assists and a season-low seven turnovers.
"I'm real happy so few turnovers," said Ehlen, whose team held a +12 advantage over the Huskies in miscues. "If you look at the stats, that is the only real plus we had over them, so I think that had something to do with the victory. Tonight was a close two-point game that could have gone either way."
Joi Scott led the Huskies with 13 points, while Stephanie Smith and Jennifer Youngblood tallied 12 points apiece. Youngblood scored all of her points in the final 20 minutes.
Toledo jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held Northern Illinois scoreless until Monique Davis drained a jumper with 15:15 remaining in the first half.
A three-pointer by Bishop pushed UT's lead to 12-4 with 11:27 left and forced NIU into its second timeout of the first stanza.
The Huskies slowly began to cut into the lead and a jumper by Scott made the score 19-16, before UT senior Kelly Walker put the Rockets back up by five, 21-16.
With the first half coming to a close, a layup by Blessing and another basket by NIU's Scott made the score 28-22 at the intermission.
In the second half, NIU's Smith converted a jumper to make it 36-34 with 14:51 remaining, only to have Toledo reel off six-straight points and build an eight-point cushion, 42-34.
Consecutive three-pointers by Smith pulled NIU within a basket, 42-40, with 10:50 remaining, but a trey by UT sophomore Leah Gonnella built the lead back to five, 45-40.
Over the next two minutes, NIU would pull within two point but could get over the hump. With Toledo clinging to a 47-45 lead and 8:00 minutes remaining, the Rockets would go on a 6-0 run to increase its lead to 53-45 with 5:55 showing on the clock.
Refusing to quit, though, NIU pulled within 59-57 with 1:14 remaining but an offensive putback by Hillis on UT's ensuing possession kept it a two-possession game. Bishop then split a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left, before NIU's Stephanie Raymond drilled a triple with six seconds left to make the score, 62-60. The Huskies immediately fouled Blessing, who missed both free throws, but Hoogendam grabbed the offensive board and time expired.
"We made timely plays and baskets down the stretch," Ehlen said. "They were scoring at will for most of the second half against us. Everytime they would score, though, we would somehow find a way to match them."
Toledo returns to action on Tuesday, Feb. 3 when the Rockets travel to Buffalo, NY to battle the Bulls. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Alumni Arena.
