TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior Olivia Cunningham poured in a career-high 27 points to lead Toledo to a 79-55 victory over Louisiana (1-2) in Saturday's consolation round of the Preseason WNIT in Savage Arena. With the double-digit win, the Rockets improve to 2-1 on the season.

 Cunningham was lethal shooting the basketball against the Ragin' Cajuns (1-2), knocking down an efficient 9-of-12 from the field in only 25 minutes off the bench, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. The Horn Lake, Miss. native was also a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to post her third-collegiate game with at least 20 points.
 
Cunningham's previous-best effort was 24 points vs. Tennessee Tech on Jan. 8, 2015 as a member of Murray State University.

Joining Cunningham in double figures for the Midnight Blue & Gold was senior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott with 15 points. Bravo-Harriott is the only Rocket to score at least 10 points in each of the first three games this season.
    
The Rockets also received seven points from redshirt freshman Tanaya Beacham, six points and a career-high 13 boards by junior Kaayla McIntyre, as well as six points and a contest-best four thefts from junior Mikaela Boyd to help them bounce back from a setback at No. 5 Louisville on Tuesday. 

As a team, the Rockets recorded season highs in overall field-goal percentage (52.6 percent , 30-of-57), three-point field-goal percentage (42.1 percent, 8-of-19) and free throw percentage (78.6 percent, 11-of-14) to run its record to 4-2 (.667) all-time against schools from the Sun Belt Conference.

As good as UT was offensively in today's non-conference contest, its defense was just as good. The Rockets forced Louisiana into turning the ball over 19 times and finished with a decisive 24-7 edge in points off miscues. 
    
Nekia Jones and Kendra Howard paced the Ragin' Cajuns with 12 points each. 
    
Louisiana's Howard looked sharp early, tallying three layups in the opening four-plus minutes to put the visitors in front, 8-4, and forced UT to burn an early timeout.

Toledo responded with vengeance out of the stoppage in play and reeled off 16 of the next 18 points to assume a 22-10 advantage with 8:07 left in the second quarter. Cunningham did a bulk of the damage in the game-changing rally, scoring 11 points to give the home team a lead it would not relinquish. She drained three triples and a jumper during this stretch to prompt Louisiana to call a timeout.

The Ragin' Cajuns ended the scoring drought with a Jones' layup, before UT strung together another pivotal 11-4 burst to stretch the margin to 40-25 at halftime. Cunningham was once again the catalyst in the run, scoring eight points to establish a 15-point cushion at the break.  

UT did not have a letdown in the third period, taking advantage of three field goals from Bravo-Harriott to set the difference at 55-37 after 30 minutes of competition. The two-time all-league performer drilled her third triple of the contest and added a pair of layups to give the home team a comfortable 18-point lead.

The Rockets would not be challenged for the remainder of today's matchup, as they emptied their bench and coasted to an impressive 24-point home triumph.    

UT returns to the hardwood on Wednesday, Nov. 22 when it hosts Atlantic 10 power Dayton. The opening tip against the 2017 NCAA Championships participant Flyers is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and will be streamed live on ESPN3.

A season ago, Toledo claimed a 76-72 road victory against Dayton before 9,002 screaming fans in UD Arena to snap a four-game losing skid in the series.


Highlights from UT's victory over Louisiana.