TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo played its most complete game of the season, claiming an impressive 71-59 victory against Buffalo in Wednesday's Mid-American Conference home opener before 3,217 fans in Savage Arena. With the double-digit win, the Rockets improve to 6-7 overall, 1-1 in the league.

The Midnight Blue & Gold led wire-to-wire to snap the Bulls' (10-3, 1-1 MAC) seven-game winning streak.

Junior Tanaya Beacham paced Toledo with 17 points off the bench, scoring in double figures for a second-straight game. Beacham knocked down an efficient 7-of-12 shots from the field and 3-of-6 from the charity stripe in 26 minutes. 
    
Freshman Quinesha Lockett added 13 points, a season-high seven rebounds, three assists and two thefts.

Toledo also received eight points from junior Nakiah Black and seven each from senior Mariella Santucci, junior Tatyana Davis and freshman Sophia Wiard to stretch its home winning streak to three-consecutive contests.   
     
As a team, the Rockets shot 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the floor, including a respectable 39.1 percent (9-of-23) from beyond the arc, and 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the free throw line to run their record to 12-1 all-time against UB at home.

Toledo also did a fantastic job taking care of the basketball against the athletic Bulls, finishing with 15 assists, compared to only 13 turnovers. Santucci spearheaded Toledo's offensive execution with a contest-best five helpers. 

Three-time MAC East Division Player of the Week Dyaisha Fair led Buffalo with 17 points, followed by Theresa Onwuka with 14. However, the Rockets held Fair to just 4-of-18 from the field.

UB overall was limited to 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field, including 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from three-point land, en route to posting its second-lowest scoring output this season. The visitors came into tonight's MAC cross-division matchup ranked fourth in the league in scoring offense (71.7 ppg), fifth in overall field-goal percentage (.408) and seventh in three-point field-goal percentage (.309). 

FIRST QUARTER
• Toledo started out like gangbusters and led 24-7 after the opening 10 minutes.

• Senior Sara Rokkanen and Lockett sparked the Rockets' explosive start, combining for four triples and 14 points. Each player knocked down a pair of three-pointers at the outset, helping the home team establish a commanding 17-point lead. 

• As good as the Rockets were offensively in the opening stanza, they were even better defensively. They held the MAC East Division co-leading Bulls to one field goal and a mere 7.1 percent (1-of-14) from the field.

SECOND QUARTER
• Toledo continued to play with the lead, benefiting from a traditional three-point play by Beacham and a trey from Wiard to extend their advantage to 19 points, 33-14, at the 4:47 mark. 

• Moments later, freshman Soleil Barnes and Davis buried back-to-back three-point field goals to make the score 42-26 at the intermission.

• Lockett paced the Rockets with 10 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Fair led the Bulls with a game-high 12.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Bulls utilized a 14-3 run midway through the period to trim the margin to seven points, but Beacham responded with consecutive layups to set Toledo's lead at 54-43 heading into the final period. 

• Onwuka and Walters triggered UB's burst with five points each in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Buffalo made one final push in the fourth period and pulled with six points, 61-55, but once again Toledo had an answer, receiving a trio of layups by Beacham to extend its margin back to double digits. 

• The Rockets then closed out the impressive home victory with six free throws in the waning moments of regulation. 

UP NEXT
• Toledo will travel to MAC West Division rival Northern Illinois (4-9, 0-2 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 11. The MAC West Division showdown is slated for 1:00 p.m. (CT) in the Convocation Center and will be televised on ESPN3.


Highlights from Toledo's win over Buffalo.


Head Coach Tricia Cullop post-game.


Junior Tanaya Beacham post-game.


Freshman Quinesha Lockett post-game.