TOLEDO, Ohio – Junior Nakiah Black buried back-to-back three-point field goals in overtime to lift Toledo to a 53-48 victory against Belmont on Tuesday before a rambunctious crowd of 4,736 Education Day fans in Savage Arena. With the extra-period win, the Rockets improve to 2-4 on the season.

With her team down two points in overtime, Black drained a pair of triples to give the Midnight Blue & Gold a 50-48 advantage with 17.3 seconds showing on the clock. The Ohio Valley Conference member Bruins (3-5) had a chance to extend play in the waning seconds, but Maddie Wright's layup in the paint was off the mark. 

Toledo senior Mariella Santucci secured the defensive rebound and was immediately fouled. She split a pair of free throws to make the score 51-48 with 11.9 seconds left. Belmont had one final opportunity in the waning seconds, but once again the Rockets' defense stood tall and caused one of their 23 turnovers to seal the hard-fought victory. Santucci then finished off the scoring with two additional free throws to make the fiinal score 53-48. 

Freshman Quinesha Lockett paced Toledo with a season-high 15 points off the bench, followed closely by Santucci with 13. Santucci nearly had a double-double, tallying a season-high nine caroms, to go along with her contest-best five assists and three steals.

The Rockets also received nine points from Black and a season-high eight by freshman Soleil Barnes to snap a four-game losing skid.  
        
As a team, Toledo shot 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the floor, including 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from three-point land, and 46.7 percent (7-of-15) from the charity stripe.

Ellie Marmeyer led Belmont with a game-high 18 points and a contest-best 16 rebounds to post her fourth double-double of the season, while Conley Chinn had 12 points.
 
FIRST QUARTER
• Toledo trailed 9-4 after the opening 10 minutes, missing 11 of its 13 shots from the field.

• The Rockets also turned the ball over six times at the outset, leading to four points for the visitors. 

• Chinn led the Bruins with five points, while junior Tanaya Beacham and Santucci tallied points for the Rockets. 

SECOND QUARTER
• Santucci caught fire at the beginning of the second stanza, pouring in seven-straight points to trim Toledo's deficit to three, 16-13, at the 6:25 mark. The 2019-20 team captain converted a pair of layups and a triple to make it a one-possession affair.

• The Rockets eventually pulled within a single point, 18-17, following back-to-back layups from Lockett, but Belmont responded by scoring the final five points to take a 23-17 lead into intermission. 

• Santucci had a game-high nine points in the first half, while Chinn led the Bruins with seven.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Rockets closed the third quarter on a 9-0 run to pull within three points, 34-31, heading into the final 10 minutes. Lockett registered four points in the rally, followed by a trey from Black and a layup by Barnes to bring the home crowd to its feet.

• Belmont started the period strong, building a game-high 12 point lead on two occasions before Toledo retaliated with its period-ending rally to make it a one-possession difference. 

FOURTH QUARTER
• The Rockets continued to attack to start the final stanza, tallying the first seven points to complete a 16-0 run and assume a 38-34 lead at the 7:11 mark. Barnes started it off with her first-collegiate three-pointer, followed by layups from senior transfer Arianne Whitaker and Lockett to give Toledo its first lead since the opening points, forcing Belmont to call a timeout.

• The stoppage in play benefited the Bruins though, as Harmeyer scored the next four points to draw the teams even at 38-38 with 5:29 left in regulation. 

• Toledo went ahead 41-38 after Santucci split a pair of charity tosses and Lockett converted an offensive putback, but Belmont's Kiki Britzmann drained a triple with just under one minute left in regulation to force overtime. 

• The Rockets had two chances to win the game in regulation, but both of Barnes' shots would not fall and the teams continued to play.

OVERTIME
• Each team held the lead in overtime before Black drained those two huge three-point field goals to give Toledo a lead it would not relinquish. 

UP NEXT
• Toledo will travel to Atlantic 10 member Duquesne (5-2) on Saturday, Dec. 7. The opening tip against the Dukes is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Kerr Sport & Fitness Center on the campus of La Roche University in Pittsburgh and will be carried on ESPN+.


Highlights from Toledo's win over Belmont.


Head Coach Tricia Cullop post-game. 


Junior Nakiah Black post-game. 


Freshman Quinesha Lockett post-game.