VALPARAISO, Ind. – Junior Mariella Santucci poured in a season-high 20 points to spark Toledo to a 65-59 victory at Valparaiso on Monday in the Athletics-Recreation Center. With the win, the Rockets improve to 3-2 on the season.

Santucci tallied 15 points in the first half to help her top the 20-point plateau for the second time as a Rocket. The Bologna, Italy added four boards, a squad-best five helpers and a team-high three thefts in 34 minutes.  

Senior Kaayla McIntyre added 14 points for the Midnight Blue & Gold, while senior Mikaela Boyd and junior Sara Rokkanen had eight each.

As a team, the Rockets shot 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the field, including 19.0 percent (4-of-21) from beyond the arc, and 63.9 percent (23-of-36) from the charity stripe to earn their first road triumph of the season.

Meredith Hamlet paced the Crusaders (1-5) with a game-high 26 points, followed by Toledo native Bryce Blood with 10 points and a game-high 10 caroms.

FIRST QUARTER
* Santucci's six early points to give the visitors a 15-14 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
* Santucci remained dialed in shooting the ball, registering seven-consecutive points in the midst of a pivotal 9-0 run to stretch UT's lead to 28-21 at the intermission. She converted a pair of layups and a knocked down a trey from the corner to make it a three-possession difference at the break.

* Santucci tallied 15 of Toledo's 28 points in the first half, while sophomore Nakiah Black was the next high scorer with five.

* Only three Valpo players found the scoring column in the opening 20 minutes, led by Hamlet with 10 points.   

THIRD QUARTER
* UT blew the game open with a 9-2 burst to commence the third stanza, creating a 37-23 lead at the 7:52 mark. Four different players tallied points in the run to build a game-high 14-point advantage.

FOURTH QUARTER
* The Rockets then put the finishing touches on the road triumph on the strength of back-to-back field goals from McIntyre to make the score 51-40 with 7:14 left on the clock.

* Valpo did not go quietly though, knocking down four treys in the last minute to make things close, but the Rockets scored their last 11 points at the charity stripe to close out the win.  

UP NEXT
* Toledo will venture to Ohio Valley Conference power Belmont (4-1) on Thursday, Nov. 29. The opening tip vs. the Bruins is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (CT) in the Curb Events Center and will be shown on ESPN+.

* UT and BU will square off for the first time.