First-Place Toledo Visits Central Michigan on Wednesday

Wednesday, February 23

Mount Pleasant, Mich.

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Central Michigan

The first-place Toledo Rockets visit Central Michigan on Wednesday evening for a 7:00 p.m. contest at McGuirk Arena.

Photo by: Ross Achter

First-Place Toledo Visits Central Michigan on Wednesday

2/22/2022 2:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Toledo women's basketball team heads to Central Michigan this week for a Wednesday evening contest in Mount Pleasant. The Rockets (21-4, 15-1 MAC) and Chippewas (4-21, 2-14 MAC) will face off at McGuirk Arena at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN3.

Wednesday's game could be a big one for the Rockets. With a win and a Buffalo loss, Toledo would clinch its first regular season MAC title since 2012-13 and the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament. Entering Wednesday's competition, UT holds a three-game advantage over Buffalo in the conference standings and won the only regular season meeting on Jan. 22. The Bulls (18-8, 12-4 MAC) host Ohio on Wednesday evening.

Toledo won its seventh straight game on Saturday, a thrilling 69-66 triumph over Ball State.

UT led for nearly the entire game on Saturday, but Ball State did not go down without a fight. An and-one from BSU's Annie Rauch with 1:59 to play made it a one-point game, the first of three times the Cardinals trimmed Toledo's lead to one. Each instance the Rockets were able to get points on the other end and fend off Ball State, which they successfully did long enough to hold on and come away with a win.

The Rockets have won seven straight games since their lone MAC loss on Jan. 26 and are outscoring opponents by an average of 10.7 points during that time. Sophia Wiard has been excellent over the last seven contests, averaging 16.6 PPG and 5.7 RPG while shooting 52.3 percent from the floor and a scorching 54.2 percent from beyond the arc.

Next up for Toledo is a road contest at Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 2:00 p.m.

Last Time vs. Central Michigan
Quinesha Lockett scored a team-high 24 points in Toledo's 74-49 win over Central Michigan on Jan. 12, and in the process became the 31st player in school history to score 1,000 career points.

Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Lockett drove to the hoop for an easy basket, giving her 19 points on the night and exactly 1,000 career points, bringing the crowd to its feet. In addition to her 24 points, Lockett also tied a career-high with 12 rebounds, her third double-double of the season.

Jayda Jansen started her first game as a Rocket and scored 14 points, while Khera Goss tied a career-best with 13 points and tallied three steals as well. Hannah Noveroske contributed 12 points and nine rebounds.
Toledo grabbed a season-high 51 rebounds, its first 50-plus rebound game since the 2017-18 season when it tallied 53 boards against Ohio on Jan. 10, 2018.

UT did an exceptional job crashing the boards on offense, collecting 12 offensive rebounds compared to CMU's three.

The Rockets held the Chippewas to just 17-of-58 shooting (29.3 percent).

Rocket Notes

A win and a Buffalo loss on Wednesday would clinch Toledo's first regular season MAC Championship since 2012-13 and it would be the 10^th in program history (1990-91, 1991-92, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1998-99, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2010-11, 2012-13).
For the second straight week, the Rockets received votes in the AP poll. Prior to last week's appearance, the last time UT received votes in an AP poll was 2012-13.
Toledo is now 15-1 in MAC play, just the fourth time it has won 15 of its first 16 MAC games. The 2012-13, 2000-01, and 1991-92 teams all went 15-1 in Mid-American Conference play.
The program record for most conference wins in a season is 16 by the 1996-97 team (16-2).
Toledo sits at No. 14 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, one of three MAC teams to rank in the Top 25. Buffalo is at No. 24 and Bowling Green is No. 25
Toledo has had an exceptionally strong defensive season to this point. UT leads the MAC in scoring defense (60.56), field goal percentage defense (36.4%), and three-point field goal percentage defense (29.1%).
In MAC play, opponents are averaging just 61.8 PPG and are shooting just 36.7% from the field against Toledo, both of which are tops in the conference.
Toledo's average scoring margin in conference play is +10.4, by far the best in the MAC. Buffalo (+6.6) sits in second place.
Offensively, the Rockets have cracked 70 points in 10 of the last 12 games. UT reached the 70-point benchmark five times in the first 12 games of the season.
Perennially among the national leaders in attendance, Toledo is right back near the top of Division I in 2021-22. UT is averaging 3,570 fans per game in three home games this year, which ranks 23^rd in the nation in average attendance. Toledo's next home game is Wednesday, March 2 vs. Northern Illinois.
In fact, Toledo's average attendance is higher than all other Division I schools in Ohio; Ohio State is in second place with an average attendance of 3,251.
The Rockets are the top free throw shooting team in the conference (74.4 percent) and boast the top free throw shooter as well (Sophia Wiard, 85.5 percent).
Quinesha Lockett sits 8th in the MAC in scoring (18.2 PPG). She's scored in double figures in 23 of 25 games this season and has cracked 20 points 13 times. She is one of four players in the MAC to have at least 13 20-point performances.
Toledo has had a MAC-high six different players record a double-double this season: Quinesha Lockett (4), Jessica Cook (3), Sammi Mikonowicz (3), Sophia Wiard (2), Nan Garcia (1), and Hannah Noveroske (1).
Jessica Cook crashes the offensive boards as well as anybody; the freshman is averaging 3.36 ORPG (5th in the MAC) and tied a season-high with eight offensive boards against Ohio on Jan. 26.
Sophia Wiard leads the MAC and ranks 29^th in the country in assist/turnover ratio (2.27). She led the MAC in that category last season as well.

About Central Michigan
Central Michigan (4-21, 2-14 MAC) enters Wednesday's game having lost seven straight games. The Chippewas rank last in the MAC in scoring offense (59.88) and 11^th in scoring defense (71.52), but they do boast one of the top scorers in the conference in Molly Davis. Davis ranks seventh in the league in scoring (18.65 PPG) and has cracked the 20-point plateau three times.