AKRON, Ohio – Toledo secured a nail-biting 63-59 victory over Akron on Monday in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in James A. Rhodes Arena.

The No. 9 seed Rockets (13-17)  will now advance to the MAC Tournament Quarterfinals against vs. No. 1 seed Central Michigan (23-6) at Noon on Wednesday at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.

Junior Nakiah Black scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half and junior Tanaya Beacham contributed 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds to lead a balanced Toledo attack.

Senior Sara Rokkanen added 12 points and senior Mariella Santucci had 10 points and a contest-best eight assists to help the Rockets pull off the heart-pounding four-point road triumph. As a team, Toledo connected on 32.8 percent (19-of-58) from the floor, including 5-of-20 from three-point range, and a splendid 80.0 percent (20-of-25) from the charity stripe. The Rockets posted a sizable 37-27 advantage on the glass and finished with 13 assists, compared to only 12 turnovers to run their record to 6-2 all-time against the Zips in the conference tournament.

Haliegh Reinoehl paced the No. 8 seed Zips (15-15) with a game-high 21 points, followed by Shaunay Edmonds and Jordyn Dawson with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

FIRST QUARTER
• The teams traded baskets for the opening five-plus minutes, but back-to-back triples with Edmonds and Reinoehl gave the Zips a 12-8 lead after the first period.

SECOND QUARTER
• Toledo started the second period strong, stringing together seven of the first nine points to assume a 15-14 lead at the 6:59 mark. Rokkanen sparked the opening burst with her 27^th triple of the season.

• Unfortunately for the Rockets, UA countered with a 9-0 run to take a 23-17 advantage into intermission. Edmonds tallied a pair of layups and Kendall Miller buried a trey from the corner to force Toledo to call a timeout late in the quarter.

• It looked like the Rockets would go scoreless for the final six-plus minutes before the break, but a long two-point field goal from Rokkanen to beat the buzzer made it a six-point difference.

• Rokkanen led the Rockets with a contest-tying best seven points, while Edmonds paces UA with seven.

• The Zips scored 14 of their 23 points off nine Toledo turnovers in the first half.

THIRD QUARTER
• Just like the second quarter, Toledo started the third stanza red hot shooting the ball. The Midnight Blue & Gold received three-point field goals from Rokkanen and Black to knot the score at 25-25 at the 6:12 mark.  

• The Rockets continued to fight back, benefiting from a traditional three-point play from Beacham to reclaim the lead, 31-29, with 2:03 left in the quarter.

• Akron's Reinoehl countered by scoring her team's final seven to give them a 37-36 lead going into the final 10 minutes.

FOURTH QUARTER
• Toledo rode the hot hand of Beacham at the outset of the final period, converting three layups to put the visitors in front for good 46-42 with 5:10 left in regulation.

• Moments later, Black gave the Rockets some breathing room with a pair of three-point field goals to stretch their margin to nine, 54-45, at the 2:53 mark.

• Akron got as close as four points on three occasions in the waning moments of regulation, but Toledo converted nine free throws in the final minute to close out the hard-fought road victory.