KALAMAZOO, MI - Toledo fought and clawed its way to a 63-60 overtime victory over Western Michigan on Saturday in Mid-American Conference action at University Arena. With the come-from-behind win, the Rockets improve to 10-5 overall, 2-0 in the league.
Junior Naama Shafir scored a season-high 27 points, including 23 points after halftime, to help the Midnight Blue & Gold post its sixth consecutive triumph over the Broncos (4-11, 0-2 MAC).
UT also received 10 points from sophomore Lecretia Smith and eight points from senior Melissa Goodall to stretch its overall win streak to three straight contests.
The Rockets shot 38.1 percent (24-of-63) from the floor, but a much-improved 48.6 percent (17-of-35) after the intermission to erase a 12-point second-half deficit.
With the score tied for the sixth time heading into the start of the extra period, Toledo reclaimed the advantage on a triple by Shafir, 58-55, at 4:29.
Western Michigan countered with a pair of free throws by Ebony Cleary and one of two charity tosses by Kenny Dominique to draw the teams even once again, 58-58, with 2:17 left.
The teams traded baskets on their ensuing possessions, before the Rockets' Goodall delivered a long field goal to propel the visitors to the hard-fought road victory.
WMU was able to launch two shots in the waning seconds to possibly force another overtime period, but neither found its mark. Shafir was fouled immediately on the Rockets' next possession and split a pair of free throws to make the final difference, 63-60, with only 1.2 seconds left.
The Broncos were paced by Cleary with 20 points and a game-high 13 boards, while Taylor Manley added 14 points in a losing effort.
Both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket early on in the matchup, but an 8-2 run by the Broncos gave them a 13-7 lead at 7:56. Cleary sparked the mini rally with four of the eight points.
The Rockets battled back to knot the score at 15-15 with 5:22 remaining in the period on the strength of consecutive layups from redshirt freshman Andola Dortch and Smith.
Unfortunately for the 2009-10 MAC West Division champs, they were unable to keep the momentum as WMU knocked down three triples in a span of a little over two minutes to assume a 28-19 bulge at the intermission. The Rockets were held to 25.0 percent (7-of-28) from the field, including 0-of-5 from beyond the arc, and tallied their second-lowest scoring output in a half.
Shafir played the final 25 minutes like a player possessed and early on scored seven consecutive points to cut the deficit to 37-32 with 13:25 remaining in regulation. The Hoshaya, Israel native started a 9-2 rally to make it a two-possession difference.
The Rockets would not score though for the ensuing five-plus minutes, but the Broncos could only muster three points during that same span. UT finally broke the scoreless stretch with a three-point play by Goodall at the 8:02 mark, trimming the tally to 40-35.
Shafir then drained back-to-back treys to cut the deficit to a single point, 42-41, but WMU's Manley responded with consecutive field goals of her own to stretch the margin to five points, 47-42, at 4:21.
UT continued to fight back and received an offensive putback by junior Haylie Linn and another basket from Shafir to again pull within one point, 47-46, with 3:13 remaining.
The Rockets completed the comeback with a three-point field goal from senior Jessica Williams and a fast break layup by junior Courtney Ingersoll, knotting the score at 51-51 at 1:05.
After both teams came up empty on their next possession, WMU's Cleary converted a pair of free throws with 24.4 seconds left, but UT's Shafir made a layup with 7.3 seconds left to force overtime.
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 12 when they host MAC West Division foe Northern Illinois. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena.
