YPSILANTI, MICH. – The University of Toledo women's basketball team clinched the 2021-22 Mid-American Conference Regular Season Championship with its 75-51 win at Eastern Michigan on Saturday.
 
The Rockets (23-4, 17-1 MAC) are MAC Regular Season Champions for the first time since 2012-13 and the 10^th time in program history. They have already clinched the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament.
 
Toledo and Eastern Michigan traded leads in the first quarter and took a 15-15 stalemate into the second stanza, but it wasn't long before the Rockets built a double-digit lead and took control of Saturday's contest. With a championship in their sights, the Midnight Blue and Gold only got stronger as the game went on, shooting 51.5 percent from the floor (17-for-33) in the second half to cruise to a 24-point triumph.
 
"Today is special," head coach Tricia Cullop said. "I told them this is something we haven't done since 2013. I'm so proud of this group and I'm so happy they achieved this because they have been so unselfish and hard-working. I'm also really proud of this staff, I love working with them. This was a goal we were staring down all season. It's not the only goal we have, but to finally be able to check it off is a good feeling."
 
Junior Quinesha Lockett scored a game-high 16 points on Saturday while grabbing seven rebounds and collecting four steals. Sophomore Sammi Mikonowicz pulled down 13 rebounds, her sixth game with double-digit boards this season. Freshman Jessica Cook added 12 points and eight rebounds, and junior Soleil Barnes provided a spark off the bench by knocked down three three-pointers.
Junior Sophia Wiard tallied nine points, four assists, and three rebounds, while front court mates Khera Goss and Jayda Jansen added seven and six points, respectively.
 
Toledo held Eastern Michigan to just 19-for-61 shooting (31.1 percent) and just 51 points, while connecting on 29-of-66 shots (43.9 percent) on offense. Behind another stellar effort from Mikonowicz, the Rockets won the rebounding battle 51-33, the second time they have tallied at least 50 rebounds in a game this season.
 
"This group has had great focused all year long," Cullop said. " Even with other big wins we've had this season, they have been really great about moving on to the next one. We're really pleased with this achievement, but we have two regular season games left to get better and those will not be easy games."
 
The Rockets close out the regular season with home games against Northern Illinois on Wednesday, March 2 and Western Michigan on Saturday, March 5.
 
 
1^st Quarter

• The Eagles led for a good chunk of the first quarter and held a 12-9 advantage with 3:42 to go.
• Toledo scored six straight points to turn a three-point deficit into a three-point lead. A trey from Barnes gave UT a 13-12 lead, then Jansen knocked down a jumper to make the score 15-12 with just 21 seconds to go.
• EMU's Kylee O'Hara managed to get off a three-pointer in the closing seconds to tie the score at 15-15.

 
 
2^nd Quarter

• Toledo began to pull away in the second quarter, opening with an 8-1 run to take a 23-16 lead. Lockett connected on back-to-back three-pointers to help UT build its seven-point cushion.
• EMU scored two baskets in a row to cut Toledo's lead to two, UT ended the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 34-23 lead into halftime.
• The Rockets held the Eagles scoreless for the final 4:42 of the second quarter to help build their double-digit lead.

 
3^rd Quarter

• Eastern Michigan was able to trim its deficit back to single digits in the third quarter, pulling to within seven points (46-39) with 4:39 left.
• The Rockets got hot in the final four-and-a-half minutes though, using an 11-2 spurt to take a commanding 57-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
• The Toledo scoring run began when Cook went up strong for two, then Jansen and Barnes combined for a trio of three-pointers to help quickly build an insurmountable advantage.

 
4^th Quarter

• Toledo quickly built upon its already sizable lead in the fourth quarter. EMU's Lachelle Austin opened the scoring by going 1-for-2 at the line before UT went on a 13-3 run to make it 70-45 with 6:24 to play.
• With the game already in hand, sophomore Yaniah Curry and junior Hannah Noveroske provided the final points in the Rockets' dominant, championship-clinching victory.