TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo grinded out a hard-fought 71-65 victory over BIG EAST member Seton Hall in the first round of the Postseason WNIT in Savage Arena on Thursday. With the win, Head Coach Tricia Cullop became the school's all-time winningest coach, passing Mark Ehlen (240-149, 1995-2008) with 241 victories.

The Rockets (21-11) will now host Big Ten member Northwestern (17-14) in a second-round match-up on Sunday, March 24 at 2:00 p.m. at home. 

Tickets for Sunday's second-round game are now available online. Elite season ticket holders will have first priority to purchase their current seat locations. Those seats can be purchased through their online season ticket account portal or through the Ticket Office until 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 23. After 3:00 p.m., those reserved seats will be open for sale to the general public for $15. 

General Admission tickets are available now for $12.00 ($6.00 for youth 12-years old and under). UT faculty/staff may also purchase reserved seats for $7.50 or GA tickets for $6.00 (must be purchased by phone or at the ticket office). In addition, UT students will receive free admission with a valid UT Student ID. 

Senior Kaayla McIntyre paced four Rockets in double figures with 16 points against the Pirates, followed closely by senior Mikaela Boyd and sophomore Nakiah Black with 15 and 14, respectively. Junior Sara Rokkanen rounded out Toledo's double-digit scorers with 10 points off the bench.

Toledo also benefited from seven points and a game-high seven assists from junior Mariella Santucci to win its first-round game in the Postseason WNIT for the seventh-straight time. 

As a team, the Rockets shot a respectable 47.5 percent (28-of-59) from the field, including 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from three-point range, and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the charity stripe.

UT also held a 32-28 edge on the glass and finished with 21 assists on 28 field goals, marking the eighth time it has posted at least 20 helpers in a game this year.  

Selena Philoxy led Seton Hall (15-16) with a game-high 19 points, while Nicole Jimenez and Victoria Cardaci had 15 and 14, respectively.

The Pirates were without the services of their leading scorer Shadeen Samuel, who did not dress for the game due to illness. The 2018-19 first-team All-BIG EAST honoree came into the post-season game averaging 18.3 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 0.8 bpg and 1.5 spg and 32.3 mpg.

FIRST QUARTER
• Seton Hall ended the opening period on a 9-2 run to take an early 18-17 lead. Philoxy sparked SHU's late run with five points to give the visitors a one-point advantage after 10 minutes of competition.

• Boyd had a hot hand in the first period for the Midnight Blue & Gold, tallying seven points, while Santucci dished out a squad-best four assists.   

SECOND QUARTER
• Toledo began the second period with a pivotal 24-6 run to create a 41-24 lead at the 1:39 mark. Five different Rockets registered points in the game-changing run, including six each from Black and Boyd to force Seton Hall to burn two timeouts. It proved to be a lead UT would not give up.

• Seton Hall's Jimenez momentarily stopped Toledo's momentum with her third triple, but Toledo countered with three of Rokkanen's team-high eight points in the quarter to make the score 44-31 at the intermission.

• Boyd paced UT with a game-high 13 points in the opening half, while the trio of McIntyre, Rokkanen and Black had eight each.

• The Rockets connected on a sparkling 50.0 percent (17-of-34) from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe to help them build a 13-point cushion at the break.  

THIRD QUARTER
• Toledo rode the strength of back-to-back triples from Black in the third quarter to take a 60-50 lead into the final 10 minutes. The Rockets maintained at least an eight-point lead throughout the entire stanza.

FOURTH QUARTER
• The Pirates did not go quietly and closed the gap to four points, 66-62, on the strength of three-point field goals from Cardaci and Jimenez with 1:35 left in regulation.

• SHU had two further chances to pull closer in the waning seconds, but UT stood its ground defensively and received a fast-break layup from Rokkanen to close out the hard-fought victory.  

UP NEXT
• UT will entertain Northwestern in a second-round game on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at home.

• The Rockets and Wildcats will meet for a fourth time overall and first since the 2011-12 campaign.
 
• Toledo secured an impressive 75-56 road triumph over Northwestern in the most recent matchup on Dec. 27, 2011. The Wildcats claimed a 73-64 road victory on Nov. 13, 2009 and a 70-60 home triumph on Dec. 22, 2010 in the other two meetings between the schools. 

• Tickets will go on sale to the general public from 9:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. tomorrow either online, in person at the UT Ticket Office or by calling (419) 530-GOLD (4653). Tickets may also be purchased at the UT Ticket Office on Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and on game day beginning at 10:00 a.m.

• Parking for the second-round contest will follow the regular-season parking guidelines. For donors and season ticket holders who have basketball premium parking passes, please use the second "Post Season Tournament" pass in your parking pass booklets. Fans who have season-parking cards can also use these to park. Also, the Joe Grogan Room will be open to Rocket Fund donors.


Highlights from UT's win in the first round of the WNIT over Seton Hall.


Head Coach Tricia Cullop post-game.


Senior Mikaela Boyd post-game.