Toledo Secures Thrilling 76-72 Victory at Dayton

Friday, December 9

Dayton, OH

11:00 a.m.

University of Toledo

7-1

Dayton

3-6

Toledo

Dayton

Senior Janice Monakana had 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds at Dayton.

12/9/2016 2:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Toledo at Dayton Box Score (PDF)

DAYTON, OH – Toledo secured a thrilling 76-72 victory over Dayton on Friday morning before 9,002 screaming fans in UD Arena. With the win, UT improves to 7-1 on the season.

Junior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott and sophomore Mikaela Boyd paced the victorious Rockets with 16 points each, while senior Janice Monakana had 14 to help the Midnight Blue & Gold snap a four-game losing skid against the Atlantic-10 foe Flyers (3-6). The win was also UT's first at UD since 2003. Monakana just missed posting her first double-double of the season, pulling down a team-high nine boards.

As a team, Toledo shot 37.9 percent (25-of-66) from the field, including 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from three-point land, and a season-high 74.1 percent (20-of-27) from the charity stripe to start the year 7-1 for only the fifth time in program history.

As has become a staple with this year's team, the Rockets took care of the basketball and finished with 16 assists and only 12 turnovers. UT has now recorded more helpers than miscues in each of the last three games and on five occasions this season.

Jenna Burdette led Dayton with a game-high 23 points, followed by Saicha Grant-Allen with 14, JaVonna Layfield with 11 and Kelley Austria had 10.

The Flyers looked good early and took advantage of three early triples to create a 15-8 lead at the 4:00 mark. Burdette sparked the quick start with two of the treys to give the home team the early seven-point advantage.

UT settled down following the media timeout and scored 10 of the next 14 points to trim the deficit to 19-18 with 8:56 left in the second period. Four different Rockets tallied points in this stretch to make it a one-point difference.

Unfortunately for the Midnight Blue & Gold, they would go almost five minutes without another point and found themselves down 25-20 at the 2:52 mark.

Down five points, the Rockets needed a basket to stay close and junior Michaela Rasmussen delivered a nice baseline jumper. Rasmussen's field goal started an 11-6 burst to draw the teams even at 31-31 at the break. Five different players scored in the late rally, including a three-point field goal by Bravo-Harriott with less than two seconds on the clock, to knot the score for a third time.

UT continued to play well at the start of the third period, scoring the first six points to open up a 37-31 advantage at the 8:14 mark. Freshman Mariella Santucci triggered the strong start with a deep three-point field goal from the wing as the shot clock expired to give the visitors their first lead since the opening minutes.

Dayton responded with a 15-4 run over the next four minutes to retake the lead, 46-41, at the 3:17 mark. A pair of traditional three-point plays and a long triple from Burdette brought the huge crowd to their feet.

The Rockets weathered the storm and rattled off 10 of the final 13 points in the period to assume a 51-50 lead after 30 minutes of competition. Eight of UT's points came from the free throw line over the final 2:06 to give the visitors a one-point cushion heading into the final quarter.

The teams traded points for a majority of the fourth quarter, before the Rockets strung together a pivotal 14-6 run to take a 69-64 advantage with 2:21 left in regulation. A trio of three pointers by junior Jada Woody, sophomore Olivia Cunningham and Monakana gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.

Dayton cut the margin to two points on three occasions in the waning moments, but the Rockets made five of six charity tosses in the final minute to seal the impressive four-point road victory.

With UT leading 71-69 and only 17.0 seconds left, Monakana split two free throws. UD's Layfield also made one of two charity tosses before Monakana was once again fouled, and the tri-captain drained both attempts to make it a four-point difference with 12 ticks remaining.

The host Flyers then raced the ball up the floor and received a layup from Burdette, but Toledo quickly responded with two more free throws by Boyd to make the final score 76-72.

The Rockets will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 11 when they host 2016 NCAA Tournament participant St. Bonaventure. The opening tip against the Bonnies is slated for Noon in Savage Arena and will be streamed live on ESPN3.

UT and SBU will square off for the fifth-straight year. The Rockets lead the all-time series, 3-1, with the Bonnies most recently claiming a 74-63 home triumph on Nov. 29, 2015.

Toledo has won both match-ups against SBU at home, securing a 64-58 victory on Nov. 20, 2014 and a 59-45 victory in the championship game of the 2012 Glass City Tournament on Dec. 2.