TOLEDO, Ohio – Senior Kaayla McIntyre scored 19 points and sophomore Nakiah Black added 16 as No. 6 seed Toledo defeated No. 11 seed Ball State, 67-63, in first-round action of the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament on Monday before 4,059 fans in Savage Arena.

Toledo (20-10) advances to play No. 3 seed Miami (22-7) in quarterfinal action at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday.

The Rockets built an early lead over Ball State (8-23) and then fought off a late Cardinal rally. Black nailed 4-of-5 shots for nine points in the first half as Toledo jumped out to a 21-8 first-quarter lead. UT pushed the lead up to 14 points in the second quarter before settling on a 33-23 margin at the halftime break.

Ball State hung around in the second half, before pulling to within two points, 59-57, with a little more than a minute remaining. Black scored seven points in the final minute though to clinch the victory and help Toledo advance to the next round.

Toledo shot the ball well, hitting 25-of-54 (46.3 percent) from the field. The Rockets were outrebounded, 35-31, but held the Cardinals to just 23-of-58 (39.7 percent) shooting.

Junior Mariella Santucci had a big night for the Rockets, as well, scoring 12 points, grabbing seven rebounds and handing out six assists while committing just two turnovers.

FIRST QUARTER
• Toledo got off to a great start, making six of their first nine shots to take a 12-4 lead at the first media timeout. McIntyre and Black each had a pair of buckets in the run.
• The Rockets extended the lead to 21-8 on a three-pointer by Santucci with three seconds left in the quarter.
• Toledo hit 8-of-13 shots from the field in the opening stanza and held the Cardinals to just 4-of-14 shooting.

SECOND QUARTER
• A three-pointer by Black extended the UT lead to 26-12 at the 7:51 mark.
• Ball State trimmed the lead to 29-20 on a layup from Blake Smith.
• Toledo countered with baskets from senior Mikaela Boyd and Black to push the lead back to 13 points, 33-20, before BSU's Thelma Di Agustdottir hit a three to make the score 33-23 at the half.
• Black led the Rockets with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first half.
• Toledo shot an even 50 percent (13-of-26) in the opening 20 minutes, while the Cardinals managed just 9-of-30 (30 percent) from the floor.

THIRD QUARTER
• Ball State opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run in the opening two minutes that cut the Rocket lead to 35-29.
• Layups by Sarah St. Fort and McIntyre pushed the Rocket lead back to 10 points, 39-29.
• The Cardinals would not quit, however, fighting back to within five points, 43-38, on a pair of free throws by Gabby Smith with 2:39 left in the quarter.
• Toledo finished off the period with four free throws by McIntyre and a bucket from Santucci that pushed the lead to 49-40 heading into the final frame.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
• BSU cut the lead to three points, 55-52, the closest margin since early in the game, when Oshlynn Brown made a layup with 5:04 left.
• Toledo pushed the lead back up to six, 59-53, on a layup from Tanaya Beechum with 4:12 left.
• Brown struck again for the Cardinals, though, cutting the lead to two points, 59-57, on a driving spin move with 1:14 left.
• Following a UT timeout, Black converted a three-point play on a twisting layup to make the score, 62-57 with less than a minute remaining.
• After Santucci made 1-of-2 from the line, BSU's Nakeya Penny nailed a three-pointer with 25 seconds left to trim the lead to 63-60 with 25 seconds left.
• Ball State was slow to foul on Toledo's next possession, allowing Black to sneak in for a layup with nine seconds left. Black added a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

UP NEXT
• The Rockets advance to the MAC Tournament quarterfinals where they will face No. 3 seed Miami (22-7) at Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday. Toledo and the RedHawks will meet in the fourth and final game of the day, which will take place 30 minutes following the third game (approximately 7:00 p.m.).
• Miami defeated Toledo twice during the regular season, 65-64 in Oxford on Jan. 9 and 65-56 in Toledo on Feb. 20.
• The winner of the Toledo-Miami game will play in the semifinals on Friday at approximately 1:15 p.m. The championship game will be played on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on the CBS Sports Network.


Highlights from UT's win over Ball State.


Head Coach Tricia Cullop post-game.


Sophomore Nakiah Black post-game.