TOLEDO, OH - Senior Tanika Mays tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds to help Toledo post a 74-60 victory over Central Michigan on Saturday before a season-high 3,394 fans at Savage Arena. With the double-digit home win, the Rockets improve to 12-3 overall, 2-0 in the Mid-American Conference.
"My plan is to do everything I can to help my team win everytime I take the court," said Mays, who shot 9-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line to tally a season-high point total."
Added Toledo Head Coach Tricia Cullop, "I want to really compliment Tanika. She was sicker than a dog before our game on Wednesday, and she still pushed through with great numbers. And then today, she is was still not 100 percent, but she decided to put this team on her back and make sure that we won. I'm very proud of her tenacity."
Joining Mays in double figures for the Midnight Blue & Gold included sophomore Clare Aubry with 13 points and junior Melissa Goodall with 10 points.
"My teammates were able to find me when I was open, and I was fortuntate enough to knock down some shots," said Aubry, who finished with a pair of triples and has now made at least two treys in a game five times this season. "My goal is to be a spark off the bench and help the team not lose a beat when a starter goes out."
The Rockets finished the game shooting 42.0 percent (29-of-69) from the field, including 29.4 percent (5-of-17) from three-point land, and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the charity stripe to record their 10th victory against CMU (3-11, 0-2 MAC) in their last 11 contests in the series.
Toledo raced out of the gates and knocked down its first five field-goal attempts to take an 11-7 lead at 17:17. Sophomore Naama Shafir and Goodall sparked the quick start with two baskets each. Unfortunately for Shafir and the Rockets, the second-year player was flagued with early foul trouble and was limited to only six points in a season-low 18 minutes.
UT stayed red-hot shooting the ball and pair of treys from junior Jessica Williams made the score 20-13 with 14:48 remaining in the opening half.
The Rockets, who have been tabbed to win the MAC West Division, seemed poised to pull away as the first half reached its midway point, receiving a trey from sophomore Courtney Ingersoll, followed by an offensive putback from Goodall to stretch the advantage to 31-23 at 8:20.
Moments later, the Rockets' lead reached double digits, 38-28, on another offensive putback from Goodall with 3:58 left. The home team put it in cruise control from there and held a 46-30 cushion at the intermission.
Mays and Aubry continued to play at a high level in the opening minutes of the second half, as the duo scored UT's first seven points to make the difference 52-36 at 13:15.
The Rockets then put the game away just a little over one minute later with another deep triple from Aubry. CMU never got closer than 12 points the remainder of regulation.
"I'm proud of my team's effort today," Cullop said. "It's not easy to get wins in this league. Central Michigan is a team that makes you play a little bit off-balance, because you can't get in rhythm offensively. I'm proud of my team for adapting to their style of play."
Kaihla Szunko finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds for the Chippewas. Szunko shot 12-of-16 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in 37 minutes. Her teammates were a combined 12-of-49 (24.5 percent) from the field.
The Chippewas entered today's game first in the MAC in triples per game (8.23), but their long-distance shooters were limited to only four treys by the conference's best three-point field-goal percentage defensive team.
"I thought we did a good job contesting their outside shots," Mays said. "I don't think we gave them that many good looks at the basket from the outside."
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 13 when they wrap up their mini three-game homestand against MAC West Division leader Eastern Michigan. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
