TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's basketball team visits Western Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 2:00 p.m. The conference tilt between the Rockets (9-3, 3-0 MAC) and Broncos (8-3, 2-0 MAC) will be streamed live on ESPN3.

A pair of Rockets enter Saturday's game on the cusp of history: junior Quinesha Lockett and head coach Tricia Cullop. Cullop enters the weekend with 399 career coaching victories, just one away from 400 career wins. Lockett enters Saturday's matchup with 976 career points, putting her 24 points away from becoming the 31^st player in program history with 1,000 career points.

The Rockets are coming off a 64-48 home win over Eastern Michigan to move to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2010-11 season. Toledo's 3-0 MAC record has the team in a tie atop the conference standings with Buffalo (9-4, 3-0), though UT has one less loss overall than UB.

UT got off to a slow start and trailed the Eagles at the end of the first quarter on Wednesday evening, but finished the first half on a 16-2 run to set the tone for the rest of the game. The Rockets held Eastern Michigan to just six points and 3-of-15 shooting in the second quarter.

Quinesha Lockett scored a game-high 23 points, her sixth 20-point performance of the season. Starting her second straight game, Hannah Noveroske added 14 points, six rebounds, and tied a career-high with five blocks. Khera Goss scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, contributing 11 points on Wednesday.

The Rockets took care of business at the free throw line against Eastern Michigan, making 13-of-14 shots. They also forced 17 EMU turnovers that turned into 22 points on the other end. Overall, Toledo shot 45.1 percent from the floor (23-for-51) compared to EMU's 34.7 field goal percentage (17-for-49).

Toledo returns home next Wednesday, Jan. 12 to host Central Michigan at 7:00 p.m. at Savage Arena.

Rocket Notes

• Saturday's game could be a low-scoring affair; Toledo (57.67) and Western Michigan (58.00) are the top two teams in the MAC in scoring defense and the only teams in the league allowing less than 60 points per game.
• Toledo has won its first five home games of the 2021-22 season, its best start at home since winning the first nine home contests of the 2017-18 campaign.
• Toledo's 61 victories against Western Michigan all-time are its most against any team in program history.
• Toledo is off to a 9-3 start this season, its best start since 2018-19.
• Perennially among the national leaders in attendance, Toledo is right back near the top of Division I in 2021-22. UT is averaging 3,487 fans per game in three home games this year, which ranks 24^th in the nation in average attendance. Toledo's next home game is Wednesday, Jan. 12 against Central Michigan
• The Rockets lead the MAC in scoring defense (57.67) and field goal percentage defense (35.3%). Toledo has held opponents to 60 points or fewer in eight of 12 games this season, and opposing teams have shot above 40% from the field just once against UT.
• Toledo trailed Eastern Michigan by as many as nine points in Wednesday's game, which is tied for the largest deficit overcome to win in a game this season; UT also trailed Oakland by as many as nine points before coming back to win that game.
• Toledo's 47 rebounds against Akron last Saturday were a season-best; UT had previously registered 46 rebounds against Oakland and Seton Hall. The Rockets' 34 defensive rebounds against the Zips were also a season-high and the third time they have grabbed at least 30 defensive rebounds in a game this season.
• UT registered a season-best 11 steals in the win over SIUE (12/19).
• Hannah Noveroske tied a career-high five blocks in the win at Kent State (12/29), the first time a Rocket had at least five blocks in a game since Kaayla McIntyre had five blocks against Ohio on Feb. 13, 2019.
• There have been three, five-block performances by a MAC player this season, and Noveroske has two of them. Central Michigan's Jahari Smith has the other, she had five blocks against Northern Illinois on Jan. 1.
• Quinesha Lockett sits sixth in the MAC in scoring (18.2 PPG). Lockett has scored in double figures in 11 of 12 games this season and has cracked 20 points six times. She is one of four players in the MAC to have at least six 20-point performances.

 
About Western Michigan
Western Michigan enters Saturday's game with a record of 8-3 and a 2-0 mark in conference play after its scheduled game at Ball State on Dec. 29 was postponed. WMU plays three of its next four games at home, where it holds a perfect 4-0 record this season. Sophomore guard Lauren Ross is one of four MAC players averaging at least 20 points per game (20.7 PPG) this year, and she also ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage (51.3%).