YPSILANTI, MI – Toledo returned to its winning ways with a 66-49 victory over Eastern Michigan in Wednesday's Mid-American Conference match-up in the Convocation Center. With the triumph, the Rockets improve to 10-3 overall, 1-1 in the league.

Sophomore Kaayla McIntyre and sophomore Mikaela Boyd led UT with a career-high 19 points each, while junior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott had 15 to help the Midnight Blue & Gold bounce back from Saturday's MAC-opening setback against Ball State.

The Rockets' dynamic trio accounted for 53 of the team's points and 25 of their season-high 52 rebounds. Boyd paced the victors with a collegiate-best 11 caroms to post her second-career double-double, while McIntyre and sophomore Sarah St-Fort ripped down nine apiece.

As a team, UT shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the field, including 21.4 percent (3-of-14) from three-point range, and 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the charity stripe to snap a three-game losing skid against its MAC West Division rival Eagles (5-9, 0-2 MAC).

Toledo native Sasha Dailey led EMU with a game-high 20 points and Micah Robinson had 12, as the home team suffered their fourth loss in the last five contests.

The Rockets turned up the defensive intensity on the Eagles and limited them to only 29.0 percent (18-of-62) from the floor, including 15.8 percent (3-of-19) from beyond the arc.  

EMU looked good early and received nine points from Dailey to take a 17-12 lead after the first quarter. The Toledo Rogers High School graduate tallied seven straight points during one stretch to force the Rockets to burn an early timeout.

UT then caught fire to begin the second quarter and utilized a game-changing 17-3 run to assume a 29-20 advantage at the 3:12 mark, forcing EMU to call a timeout. McIntyre sparked the rally with eight points to give the visitors a lead they would not give up. Freshman Sara Rokkanen also tallied a pair of field goals in the burst, while Bravo-Harriott buried a triple and Boyd contributed two points in the opening six-plus minutes of the period.

The Rockets ended up outscoring the Eagles 19-6 in the stanza to take a 31-23 lead into the intermission. UT shot an efficient 44.4 percent (8-of-18) from the field in the period and held EMU to only one field goal (1-of-14) to build an eight-point cushion at the break.

Toledo did not skip a beat to start the third quarter, rattling off 11 of the first 13 points to stretch its margin to 42-25, prompting Eastern Michigan to call another timeout at the 7:53 mark. Bravo-Harriott triggered the quick explosion with a pair of treys and added a reverse layup to force the home team to stop play.

The Rockets did not waver following the stoppage and maintained their momentum, holding a 50-39 lead after 30 minutes of competition.  

EMU did not go down without a fight though, scoring the first eight points in the final quarter to trim the lead to 50-40 at the 7:48 mark and forced UT to call a timeout.

Toledo responded well following the stoppage in play, tallying 13 of the next 15 points to push its advantage back to a comfortable 21 points, 63-42, with 4:45 left in regulation. McIntyre spearheaded the game-sealing rally with three baskets and one free throw to put the contest out of reach.

The Rockets will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7 when they host MAC East Division foe Miami. The opening tip versus the RedHawks is slated for Noon in Savage Arena and will be televised on the Buckeye Cable Sports Network (BCSN) and Time Warner Cable Sports Channel (TWCS) as part of the MAC's television package.