ATLANTA, Ga. – Toledo opened the 2019-20 season with a resounding 74-48 victory at Georgia State on Tuesday in the GSU Sports Arena.

The Midnight Blue & Gold shot an impressive 52.5 percent (32-of-61) from the field and 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from the charity stripe against the Sun Belt Conference member Panthers to improve to 24-22 (.522) all time in season openers, including 7-5 (.583) under head coach Tricia Cullop.

Junior Tanaya Beacham led four Rockets in double figures with a career-high 14 points and a collegiate-best 10 rebounds to post her first-collegiate double-double.

Senior Arianne Whitaker tallied 12 points off the bench, followed by senior Mariella Santucci and junior Nakiah Black with 11 and 10, respectively.

Toledo also benefited from eight points from senior Sara Rokkanen and seven by junior Tatyana Davis to run its record to 3-0 all time versus GSU.

"We are a deep team, and I'm not afraid to go to my bench," Cullop said. "We've got a lot more depth this year than years past, and I need to find minutes for our players. It's my job to make sure we're a balanced team with great depth."

The Rockets also posted a massive 48-6 edge in points in the paint, a 31-8 advantage in bench points and a gigantic 47-22 rebounding edge.  

"We did a great job sharing the basketball," Cullop said. "We also ran the floor well and finished well. The other stat that stuck out to me was a plus-25 rebounding advantage." 

Taylor Henderson paced the Panthers with 13 points, while Kamryn Dziak and Jada Lewis had 12 each. GSU was held to 29.8 percent (17-of-57) from the floor.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Panthers had things rolling early, knocking down four of their first five three-point shots to assume a quick 14-6 lead. Dziak sparked the quick start with a pair of treys to force Toledo to burn an early timeout at the 6:02 mark.

• The Rockets settled down following the stoppage in play and strung together a 9-0 burst to help them take a 21-20 advantage after the opening 10 minutes. Santucci triggered the run with a five points to give the visitors their first lead of the game. It proved to be a lead they would not relinquish.
 
SECOND QUARTER
• Toledo quickly extended its margin to six points, 28-22, thanks to five-straight points from Black with 7:12 left in the first half.

• Georgia State pulled within two points late in the stanza, but baskets from Toledo's Rokkanen and Whitaker helped the visitors claim to a 35-32 lead at the intermission.  

• Black paced the Rockets with seven points in the first half, followed closely by Whitaker with six off the bench.

THIRD QUARTER
• Black remained red hot shooting the ball to start the second half, draining a triple from the wing for the opening points. Santucci immediately followed with a layup in transition to extend Toledo's advantage to 40-32, forcing GSU to call a timeout.

• Georgia State momentarily stopped Toledo's momentum with a pair of free throws, but the Rockets countered with consecutive layups from Beacham and freshman Quinesha Lockett to make the score 48-35 at the 6:03 mark.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Beacham gave the Rockets some breathing room with a trio of layups early in the final quarter to set the score at 63-45 with 6:25 left in regulation.

• Moments later, the Midnight Blue & Gold put the game out of reach on the strength of a three-point shot by Davis, followed by three-consecutive layups from Whitaker, Rokkanen and sophomore Lexi Lance.  

• The Rockets were stout defensively in the fourth quarter and held the Panthers to only two field goals and five total points total to make the final score 74-48.

STAT OF THE GAME
• Toledo held a commanding 48-6 advantage in points in the paint.

UP NEXT
• Toledo will host Atlantic 10 member Dayton on Saturday, Nov. 9 in its home opener. The opening tip against the Flyers is slated for 2:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and can be seen on ESPN3.