TOLEDO, OH – Toledo nearly led wire-to-wire en route to a 65-50 victory against Rhode Island in Tuesday's home opener before 3,189 fans in Savage Arena. With the impressive double-digit win, UT improves to 2-0 on the season.

Sophomore Mikaela Boyd led three Rockets in double figures with a career-high 15 points, to go along with six rebounds, a team-tying best five assists and three steals in a collegiate-high 31 minutes. Boyd shot 7-of-12 from the field and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe against the Rams (1-2) to post at least 10 points for the second-straight contest.

Joining Boyd in double digits for the Midnight Blue & Gold were freshman Mariella Santucci with 13 points and sophomore Olivia Cunningham had 10 points off the bench. The Rockets also received eight points and a game-tying high 10 caroms from senior Janice Monakana to help them begin the year 2-0 for the first time since 2008-09.

Beside Santucci's 13 points, the first-year Rocket filled up the stat sheet and totaled a squad-tying best five dimes and a contest-high six thefts in a team-best 36 minutes. She became the first Rocket to tally at least five steals in a game since Brenae Harris had five against Albany on Nov. 21, 2015.

As a team, Toledo shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field, including 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from three-point range, and 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the charity stripe. Despite the lower totals, the Rockets trailed for a mere 15 seconds in tonight's contest.

The biggest difference in the non-league contest was UT's ability to knock down a little more than half of its free throws, while URI shot only 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from the stripe.

Nicole Jorgensen paced the Rams with a game-high 18 points and a contest-tying best 10 boards off the bench, while Dominique Ward had 12 points and a game-high three blocked shots. URI's leading scorer Charise Wilson was limited to only four points, shooting 1-of-16 from the field in 38 minutes. Wilson came into tonight's game averaging a team-high 12.0 points.

URI could not find its offensive rhythm all evening and connected on only 30.3 percent (20-of-66) from the floor, including 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from beyond the arc. 

Toledo wasted little time in setting the tone, jumping out to a 7-2 lead at the 5:51 mark in the first quarter. The home team received four points and three boards from Boyd to assume the early two-possession advantage. 

The Rockets' effort was aided by a strong defensive showing, as the Rams missed nine of their first 10 shots from the floor.

Rhode Island quickly responded with a 7-0 burst to take its one and only lead, 9-7, with 1:31 remaining in the first quarter. URI's lead was short lived, as UT scored seven of the final 10 points to take a 14-10 advantage at the end of the opening period. The trio of sophomore Sarah St-Fort, Monakana and Santucci accounted for the points in the late rally to give the home team a lead it would not relinquish.

Toledo continued to play well at the start of the second period, scoring 10 of the first 16 points to stretch its margin to 24-16 at the 5:00 mark. Santucci sparked the rally with a triple as the shot clock expired and three free throws, while junior Jada Woody and senior Sophie Reecher also tallied field goals during this stretch to make it an eight-point difference.

The Rockets' kept their foot on the accelerator for the duration of the quarter, as they benefited from six points by Boyd and five from Cunningham to create a 36-21 lead at the intermission. 

Toledo did not skip a beat following the break, tallying nine of the first 12 points to extend the margin to 21 points, 45-24, with 4:39 left in the third stanza. The home team received two more baskets from Boyd to bring the crowd to its feet.

The Rockets' then put the game in cruise control and did not let their lead slip below 15 points for the remainder of regulation, en route to claiming the impressive double-digit victory. 
 
Toledo will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 19 when it travels to Horizon League member Cleveland State. Tipoff is slated for Noon in the Wolstein Center. 

UT and CSU will meet for the third straight year and 25th time in the overall series. The Rockets lead the all-time series, 15-9, and most recently claimed a 66-53 home victory on Dec. 12, 2015.