TOLEDO, OH - Toledo ran its home win streak to seven straight with a resounding 67-53 victory over Buffalo on Saturday before a season-high 3,254 fans in Savage Arena. With the combination of today's win against the Bulls and a Central Michigan loss, the Rockets' (13-6, 5-1 MAC) reclaim sole possession of first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division.
Junior Naama Shafir led three UT players in double figures with 12 points and a game-high seven assists, followed by senior Jessica Williams with 11 points and senior Melissa Goodall with 10 points. A season-high 12 Rockets found the scoring column in the 14-point home victory.
The Midnight Blue & Gold shot a respectable 44.3 percent (27-of-61) from the field, including an outstanding 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from beyond the arc, and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the charity stripe to improve to 7-0 all time against the Bulls at home.
UT also did a good job taking care of the basketball and finished with 17 assists, compared to 16 turnovers.
Toledo set the tone at the outset, hitting four triples in the opening five-plus minutes to jump out to a 15-6 lead at 14:38. Shafir, Goodall, Williams and junior Courtney Ingersoll each dialed long distance to help the 2009-10 MAC West Division champs explode to the early nine-point cushion.
Following a UB three-point field goal, the Rockets went on a game-clinching 25-10 run for the remainder of the half to increase its margin to 40-16 at the intermission. Eight different Toledo players recorded points in the offensive explosion, establishing a 24-point lead at the break.
UT forced 13 Buffalo miscues in the opening stanza, tallying a sparkling 17 points off the turnovers. They also shot a sizzling 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the floor and an even better 66.7 percent (6-of-9) from three-point range to record at least 40 points in a half for the eighth time this season.
Toledo put the contest out of reach in the opening portion of the second stanza with treys from Williams and redshirt freshman Andola Dortch to make the difference 54-26 at 11:44. The closest the Bulls would get the rest of the game was 12 points in the waning moments.
Kourtney Brown paced the Bulls (9-10, 2-4 MAC) with a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds, but the MAC Player of the candidate had only two points and three boards when the matchup was close in the first half.
UB finished with its lowest scoring output of the conference season, shooting only 32.7 percent (16-of-49) from the field.
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 26 when they travel to arch-rival Bowling Green to battle the MAC East Division co-leading Falcons. The opening tip is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Anderson Arena.
