Toledo Entertains Northern Illinois on Senior Day

Saturday, March 7

Toledo, Ohio

2:00 P.M.

University of Toledo

Northern Illinois

Toledo will honor junior Nakiah Black and seniors (L-R) Sara Rokkanen, Arianne Whitaker and Mariella Santucci following tomorrow's home game against NIU.

Photo by: Toledo Athletics

3/6/2020 9:11:00 AM | Women's Basketball

NIU Game Notes (2)

TOLEDO, Ohio – Toledo will wrap up its regular season against Mid-American Conference West Division rival Northern Illinois (10-18, 6-11 MAC) on Saturday, March 7. Tip-off time is set for 2:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and can be streamed on ESPN3.

Following tomorrow's regular-season finale, Toledo will honor seniors Arianne Whitaker, Sara Rokkanen and Mariella Santucci, along with junior Nakiah Black. The Rockets will also recognize senior manager Jessica Paige and student assistant equipment manager Abby Schaper as part of their post-game festivities.

Toledo (12-16, 7-10 MAC) is currently tied for eighth place with Akron (14-14, 7-10 MAC) in the overall MAC standings. The Midnight Blue & Gold owns the tiebreaker against the Zips, as it registered a 65-61 home victory on Jan. 15. The Rockets, who can be as high as a No. 7 seed or as low as No. 9 seed in the MAC Tournament, can clinch a first-round home game if they beat NIU or Akron loses to Bowling Green (10-19, 2-14 MAC) at home. The top eight teams, regardless of division, will host a first-round MAC Tournament contest on Monday, March 9.

Toledo and Northern Illinois will meet for the second time this year and 58th overall. The Rockets claimed a 63-51 road victory against the Huskies on Jan. 11 in the Convocation Center. Toledo leads the all-time series, 36-21, and has won five of the last seven meetings against its division foe. The Rockets also hold a 21-5 in games played in Savage Arena, including a 10-1 mark under Head Coach Tricia Cullop. A year ago, Toledo secured a 64-53 home triumph vs. NIU at home (March 2).

The Rockets enter tomorrow's contest on the heels of an impressive 76-67 home triumph against MAC regular-season champion Central Michigan (22-6, 15-2 MAC) on Wednesday. Santucci and freshman Quinesha Lockett led a season-high five Rockets in double figures with 18 points each. Lockett added a season- and team-high eight rebounds, while Santucci dished out a contest-best six assists.

Toledo also received 13 points from Black, 11 by junior Tanaya Beacham and 10 from junior Tatyana Davis to snap a six-game losing skid.

The Rockets connected on a respectable 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the floor and a sizzling 81.3 percent (13-of-16) from the charity stripe. Toledo also did a tremendous job taking care of the basketball, tallying 13 helpers with a season-low nine turnovers.

Another big reason Toledo won Wednesday's game came from its dominant play around the basket, as the home team finished with a commanding 52-36 edge in points in the paint.

Micaela Kelly paced CMU with a game-high 19 points, followed closely by Molly Davis with 17.

The Rockets, which sport a 7-6 home record, currently have four players registering at least 10.5 points in MAC play. Santucci is averaging a squad-best 11.9 ppg, followed immediately by Black, Beacham and Lockett at 11.4, 11.3 and 10.9 ppg, respectively. This quartet is responsible for 67.2 percent (761-of-1,132) of Toledo's scoring against league competition.

Toledo will take on a NIU team which secured a 70-62 road win at Ball State (20-9, 12-5 MAC) on Wednesday. Courtney Woods paced the Huskies with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four steals against the Cardinals, while Myia Starks had 15. Northern Illinois, which is 5-10 away from home, features an offense with four players contributing at least 7.0 points, led by Woods' 17.9 ppg.