MUNCIE, IN – Toledo outscored Ball State 12-2 in overtime to register a 76-66 victory in Saturday's Mid-American Conference regular-season finale in Worthen Arena. With the extra-period win, the Rockets improve to 21-8 overall, 12-6 in the league.

UT shot 2-of-4 (50.0 percent) from the floor and 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe in overtime, while BSU was limited to 0-of-6 and 2-of-2 in the same categories.

The Rockets will now be the No. 6 seed in next week's MAC Tournament and host No. 11 seed Akron in the first round on Monday, March 6 at 5:30 p.m. in Savage Arena.  The opening-round contest between UT and UA will be streamed on ESPN3.

Sophomore Mikaela Boyd led Toledo with 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to post her second-straight and team-best eighth overall double-double on the year.

Freshman Mariella Santucci added 15 points and a game-high nine helpers, while senior Janice Monakana had 11 points to help the Midnight Blue & Gold snap a six-game losing skid against the Cardinals (21-9, 14-4 MAC).

UT also received nine points from sophomore Kaayla McIntyre and seven each by junior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott and senior Sophie Reecher to secure its fourth-straight win and ninth in the last 11 games.

As a team, the Rockets shot a respectable 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the field and 78.9 percent (15-of-19) from the free throw line to win their regular-season finale for the first time since 2013.

UT also finished with a sizable 42-32 edge on the boards, highlighted by Boyd's ninth game with at least 10 caroms this year.

Renee Bennett paced BSU with 23 points and 11 caroms, followed by Jill Morrison with 15.

Reecher was huge in overtime, as the three-time team captain knocked down back-to-back field goals and was credited with an offense rebound that led to two points to put UT in front for good, 72-66, at the 1:16 mark. The Byron, IL native converted a layup and knocked down an 10-foot jumper to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.

Reecher and the Rockets then collected a pair of key defensive stops on BSU's ensuing possessions, before she split a pair of free throws to essentially put the game out of reach with 35 seconds left.   

At the outset, the Cardinals' benefited from six points each by Destiney Washington and Bennett to grab a 19-16 lead after 10 minutes. The duo did a majority of its damage on the low block, helping BSU score 16 of its 19 points in the paint.

Ball State then buried three-straight triples midway through the second period to stretch its advantage to 32-22 at the 3:50 mark. The home team received two treys from Morrison and another from Moriah Monaco to force Toledo to call a timeout.

The Rockets responded brilliantly following the stoppage and scored the final 11 points to take a 33-32 lead into the intermission. Freshman Sara Rokkanen sparked the late rally with back-to-back baskets, while sophomore Olivia Cunningham also contributed a field goal late to shift the momentum in the contest.

Toledo did not skip a beat to start the final 20 minutes of regulation, tallying eight of the first 10 points to make its advantage, 41-34, at the 6:45 mark. Santucci drained a pair of three-point field goals and Monakana converted a layup to give the visitors a three-possession lead.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, their advantage evaporated quickly as BSU reeled off 10 straight points to reclaim the lead, 48-43, prompting the visitors to use another timeout. Frannie Frazier and Morrison provided big shots in run with back-to-back treys.

As was the case in the second quarter, UT settled down following the timeout and went on a mini 9-3 burst to retake the advantage, 52-51, with 8:47 left in regulation. The Rockets spread the wealth around and received points from four different players in a span of just over two-plus minutes.

The teams then traded baskets for the remainder of regulation with neither squad holding more than a four-point lead.

BSU's Carmen Grande made a driving layup to put the home team in front, 64-62, with 53 seconds remaining, but UT's Santucci retaliated by knocking down a pair of free throws with only 0.9 seconds remaining to force overtime.

The Cardinals immediately called a timeout after Santucci made her second charity toss to advance the ball to midcourt and had a chance to win the game in regulation, but Bennett's shot from the right side of the basket rimmed out as the horn sounded.