TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo fought, clawed and scratched its way to a 63-60 victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon before 3,716 fans in Savage Arena. With the win, the Rockets improve to 12-5 overall, 3-2 in the Mid-American Conference.

Junior Mikaela Boyd paced the 2017 MAC Champions with 17 points, followed by junior Kaayla McIntyre and senior Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott with 16 and 13, respectively.

Boyd added a game-high 13 boards to post her fourth double-double in the last five games and played a big part in UT winning the battle on the glass, 39-36. McIntyre helped the cause with seven caroms and junior Sarah St-Fort had six, as Toledo outrebounded its opponent for the fifth time in the last six contests. 

As a team, the Rockets shot 41.0 percent (25-of-61) from the field, including 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from three-point range, and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the charity stripe to extend their home winning to 14-consecutive games, tied for the sixth-longest unbeaten stretch in school history.

Kelly Smith and Mikayla Voigt led the Huskies (10-6, 2-3 MAC) with 18 and 16 points, while Courtney Woods had 13. Voigt also dished out a game-high 10 assists to tally a double-double. 

In a game Toledo led for almost 34 minutes, the home team found themselves behind 58-57 with 2:19 left in regulation.

Following a timeout, Bravo-Harriott knocked down her game-high third three-point field goal from the top of the key to give the Midnight Blue & Gold a lead they would not relinquish.

Neither team could muster points on their ensuing possessions until UT's Boyd split a pair of free throws to make the difference 61-58 with 57 seconds left. 

NIU's Smith quickly retaliated with a jumper to once again make it a one-point contest with 52 seconds remaining, but those points would be the visitor's last.

The Rockets had a couple opportunities to distance themselves in the waning seconds of regulation but could not find the range. Fortunately for Toledo, the defense stood its ground and did not let the opposition have a clean look at the basket. 

Following a couple of timeouts and a missed jumper by NIU's Smith, Toledo's Santucci buried two free throws to set the score at 63-60 with 1.5 seconds left.

Northern Illinois called its final timeout to advance the ball to midcourt and had a good look to tie the game as the clock expired, but Wood's three-point shot was off the mark, sending UT's bench and fans into a frenzy.

The Rockets benefited from eight points by McIntyre in the first period to assume a 14-12 lead after 10 minutes of competition. The Toledo native converted an efficient 4-of-6 shots from the field to give the home team an early two-point advantage.

UT extended the margin to seven early in the second period, before NIU ripped off 12-consecutive points to take a 26-21 advantage at the 2:07 mark. Woods and Smith spearheaded the run tallying all but three points to force Toledo to call a timeout.

Toledo responded admirably following the stoppage in play, tallying the final six points in the half to take a 27-26 lead into the intermission. Three different Rockets were credited with points over the final two-plus minutes to put the conference champs in front by a single point. 

UT did not trail for the next 17-plus minutes and led by as many as seven before NIU utilized a mini 8-3 burst to create 58-57 lead and set the stage for UT's late-game heroics.
 
The Rockets will wrap up their mini three-game home stand against MAC West Division rival Ball St. (14-2, 3-2 MAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 17. Game time versus the Cardinals is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and will be streamed live on ESPN3.

Last season, UT and BSU split its two regular-season meetings with the away squad coming away with the victory on both occasions. Toledo dropped a 51-45 decision at home (Dec. 31), before responding with a 76-66 overtime victory in Worthen Arena to snap a six-game losing skid in the series (March 4). 


Highlights from UT's win over Northern Illinois.


Head Coach Tricia Cullop post-game.


Junior Mikaela Boyd post-game.