University of Toledo
Milwaukee
Toledo Suffers Disheartening Road Loss to Milwaukee, 60-57
12/19/2011 1:20:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The telling tale in today's non-league contest was the disparity at the charity stripe. The Panthers converted 22-of-33 free-throw attempts, while UT finished only 6-of-10. The Midnight Blue & Gold were whistled for 25 fouls and had five players with at least three fouls, compared to only 10 team fouls for UWM (4-6).
Junior Kyle Baumgartner paced Toledo with a season-high 17 points off the bench and senior Courtney Ingersoll contributed 14 points.
The 2010-11 Mid-American Conference regular-season champions shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from three-point land, and the aforementioned 60.0 percent from the free-throw line to drop their third decision of the season to a Horizon League opponent (1-0 vs. Cleveland State, 0-1 vs. Milwaukee and 0-2 vs. Green Bay).
At the 9:29 mark of the second period, freshman Inma Zanoguera made a layup to give the Rockets a 46-30 lead. Zanoguera's basket would be UT's last points for the next four-plus minutes, as the Panthers utilized a 14-0 run to make it a one-possession contest. Four different UWM players scored in the burst to cut the margin to only two points, 46-44.
Toledo sophomore Andola Dortch momentarily stopped the bleeding with a jumper, but Milwaukee's Courtney Lindfors retaliated with back-to-back layups to draw the teams even for the ninth time with a little over four minutes showing on the clock.
Dortch then missed a pair of free throws on UT's next possession, while the Panthers' Angela Rodriguez drained two charity tosses to give the home team a lead they would not relinquish at the 3:54 mark.
Toledo's deficit quickly increased to four points, before Ingersoll drained her third triple of the afternoon to make the score 52-51 at 2:46.
Unfortunately for the Rockets, they could not get a stop at the defensive end of the court down the stretch to get them over the hump. UWM received a layup from Sami Tucker and two more free throws from Lindfors to build a game-high five-point bulge, 56-51, at the 1:50 mark.
UT did not go quietly though and senior Haylie Linn buried a trey to again make it a one-possession affair, 56-54, with 1:30 remaining.
The home team misfired on their next field-goal attempt, but they secured the offensive rebound and converted a second-chance opportunity with a little over one minute left in regulation.
The Rockets responded one more time with another three-point field goal by Ingersoll to close the margin to 58-57 with 36 seconds left.
UT chose not to foul and play defense, but the 2011 WNIT champions were whistled for a foul late in the shot clock. UWM's Ashley Green made the first charity toss and missed the back end, but teammate Rodriguez corralled the offensive rebound to keep possession and the Rockets were quickly forced to foul with only 10 seconds left. She also split a pair of free throws to keep it a one-possession difference, 60-57, and give Toledo one final chance to force overtime.
The Rockets, who had no timeouts remaining, pushed the ball up the floor and ran a play for Linn at the top of the arc, but her three-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.
In the first half, UT's Ingersoll hit two triples and Baumgartner converted a pair of layups to give the visitors a 14-10 lead at 13:19. The duo accounted for 12 of the first 14 points to help the Rockets' stake claim to the early advantage.
Milwaukee's Rodriguez quickly retaliated with three treys and Lindfors contributed seven points in a span of six-plus minutes to shift the lead in the home team's favor, 20-19, with 6:33 left in the opening period.
UWM's Lindfors was tough down in the waning moments of the first half and lifted them to a 28-25 lead at the break. The 6-foot-4 center scored 13 points in the opening stanza to give the Panthers a three-point bulge at the intermission.
The Rockets opened the second half with an impressive 19-0 run to establish a 16-point cushion, but Milwaukee countered with a 32-13 burst to end the contest, earning the hard fought home win.
UT looked to be in a groove during its second-half opening surge as five different played contributed points. They were efficient at both ends of the court and seemed to have the game in control, but the Panthers would not be denied and overcame the sizable deficit to post the come-from-behind win.
Lindfors led three UWM players in double figures with a game-high 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Green and Rodriguez also tallied double figures and finished with 16 points and 14 points, respectively.
The Rockets will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 27 when they travel to Evanston, IL to battle Big Ten member Northwestern. Tipoff from Welsh-Ryan Arena is slated for 6:00 p.m. (CT).
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