OXFORD, OH - Toledo held onto the best overall record in the Mid-American Conference with an impressive 76-65 victory at Miami this afternoon on SportsTime Ohio in Millett Hall. With the double-digit road triumph, the Rockets' run their win streak to five straight games and improve to 17-6 overall, 9-1 in the league.
Senior Melissa Goodall paced UT with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds, junior Naama Shafir had 19 points with contest-high eight helpers and senior Jessica Williams contributed 10 points. The Midnight Blue & Gold also received outstanding performances from redshirt freshman Andola Dortch (8 pts., career-high 5 stls.) and sophomore Yolanda Richardson (5 pts., 5 rebs., 3 blks.) to maintain their one-game lead over Eastern Michigan in the overall standings.
Toledo shot a season-high 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field and a sizzling 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc to remain unbeaten in five games against MAC East Division opponents. They also finished with a 40-35 edge on the glass and outscored the RedHawks, 32-26, in points in the paint to match their best league start since the 2001-02 campaign.
Miami (10-13, 2-8 MAC) looked good early on, draining three early field goals to sprint out to a 7-0 lead at 16:44. UT did not collect its opening field goal until the 16:00 mark when Goodall converted a layup.
The RedHawks continued to play with the lead as the first half wore on, utilizing back-to-back baskets by Kirsten Olowinski to make the score 17-11 at 12:25. With the home team playing at a high level, the Rockets needed to match their intensity and received seven points from Shafir to keep them within striking distance.
Miami seemed to have all the momentum following a pair of traditional three-point plays from Olowinski and Rachael Hencke to increase its margin to 25-16 at 8:56, forcing Toledo into a timeout.
Just like Wedndesday's contest at Akron, UT responded well following the stoppage of play and stopped the home team's momentum, ending the half with a game-changing 23-5 run to take a 39-30 lead at the intermission.
The Rockets started the end of the period burst reeling off 10-straight points to take their first lead, 26-25, with 6:03 left. Williams got the ball rolling with a triple, followed by a pair of free throws from junior Haylie Linn, another three-pointer from Shafir and a layup from Dortch.
UT's kept pushing the attack in the waning moments and scored the final 11 points to take a nine-point lead into the locker room. The Midnight Blue & Gold received treys from Goodall, junior Courtney Ingersoll and Shafir down the stretch to hold nine-point cushion at the break. The visitors shot a sizzling 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
The 2009-10 MAC West Division champs extended their lead to double digits in the beginning portion of the second half, 49-39, thanks to a pair of layups at 15:23 mark.
Toledo maintained a comfortable margin for the next six-plus minutes, before a mini 7-2 run by Miami trimmed the margin to 57-52 with 9:35 left in regulation. All-MAC candidate Courtney Osborn scored five of the seven points in the run to make it a two-possession contest.
The Rockets' had too much strength inside down the stretch, though, and three layups from Goodall pushed the lead back to double figures, 66-56, at 3:47. The visitors then sealed the road triumph making all eight of their charity tosses in the final two minutes to register the 11-point victory.
Osborn led the RedHawks with 14 points and four assists, while Olowinski had 13 points, a game-high nine caroms and three thefts.
The home team was limited to 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the floor and committed 17 turnovers, which UT translated into 19 points.
The Rockets will take the next six days off before wrapping up their crossover games against Ohio in the first contest of a home doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 12. The opening tip is slated for 4:30 p.m. in Savage Arena. The UT men's team will play Miami at 7:00 p.m.
