DeKALB, Ill. – Sophomore Sophia Wiard poured in a school-record tying 42 points to help Toledo secure an 82-79 victory at Northern Illinois on Thursday in the Convocation Center. With the hard-fought win in their Mid-American Conference opener, the Rockets improve to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the league.

Wiard was simply outstanding against the Huskies, shooting 16-of-25 from the field, including a stellar 7-of-10 from three-point land, and a flawless 3-of-3 from the charity stripe to equal Kim Sekulski's record-setting effort vs. Bowling Green on Feb. 20, 1991. Wiard's seven three-point field goals also tied for fifth most in program history.

"My shot felt good tonight," said Wiard, who has scored in double figures in all three games this season. "I hit my first two shots, and I remember saying to myself that tonight is going to be a good one. It just felt right. My teammates gave me great opportunities to score. They set good hard screens and were able to get me good looks at the basket."

Head Coach Tricia Cullop sure liked what she saw in her sophomore team captain.

"This was certainly fun to watch," said Cullop, whose squad improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2016-17. "Sophia is a player that works out constantly in her free time to get better, and she is a great teammate. To have someone who gives everything she has to the team have a night like that, that is pretty special. It was great to see her play at that level."

Sophomore Quinesha Lockett added 15 points and classmate Mali Morgan-Elliott totaled 11, all coming in the fourth period, to help the Rockets remain unbeaten.

As a team, Toledo shot 43.5 percent (30-of-69) from the field, including a stellar percent (12-of-30) from three-point land, and a near perfect 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the charity stripe. The Rockets also finished with 19 assists, a season-low eight turnovers, and a season-best 13 thefts.

Chelby Koker paced NIU (2-2, 0-1 MAC) with 23 points, followed by A'Jah Davis and Paulina Castro with 11 each.

FIRST QUARTER
• The Rockets raced out to a 10-0 lead on the strength of five quick points from Wiard in the opening three-plus minutes. The Muskegon, Mich. native recorded a layup and a trey from the corner to give Toledo an early double-digit advantage.

• Wiard remained red-hot from the floor for the remainder of the quarter, tallying two more field goals to push Toledo's margin to six points, 19-13, after 10 minutes.

SECOND QUARTER
• Wiard continued to carry the Rockets in the second stanza, burying two more triples to help them establish a 34-33 lead at intermission.

• Wiard finished with 17 points in the first half, while Koker and Castro led NIU with seven each.

• Toledo as turned up the pressure defensively, forcing NIU into 11 first-half turnovers and posted a commanding 11-0 advantage in points off miscues.

THIRD QUARTER
• The Huskies rattled off the first six points after the break to assume their first lead, but Wiard responded with back-to-back three-point field goals to help the Rockets retake the advantage, 42-41, at the 5:34 mark.

• Toledo maintained the lead until NIU's Janae Poisson nailed treys on consecutive possessions to make the score 51-48. The Huskies found Poisson open in almost the exact same spot on both shots, forcing the Rockets to call a late timeout.

• The visitors responded well out following the stoppage in play, receiving last-second layups from senior Tatyana Davis and Wiard to knot the score at 52-52 after 30 minutes.
 
FOURTH QUARTER
• In a frantic-paced final period that featured a combined 57 points, the Rockets received two more treys from Wiard and one from Morgan-Elliott in the span of less than one minute to give them a seven-point cushion, 69-62.

• The Huskies eventually closed the gap to a single point on three occasions in the waning moments of regulation, but each time Toledo had an answer and never surrendered the lead.

• Morgan-Elliott triggered the Rockets' stellar play at the end with two huge three-point field goals to help them escape DeKalb with the hard-fought road victory.

• Down one point, 80-79, with 11.4 seconds left, Northern Illinois had a chance to retake the lead, but Davis missed both free throws. The home team did however secure the offensive rebound with 10.9 seconds remaining. And just when you thought Wiard had done enough, she stole the inbound pass and made both charity tosses to close out the triumph.

UP NEXT
• The Rockets will host Kent State (0-2) on Sunday, Dec. 13. The opening tip against the Golden Flashes is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and will be shown on ESPN+.