KENT, Ohio – Senior guard
Quinesha Lockett scored 36 points to lead the Toledo women's basketball team to a 77-68 victory at Kent State on Saturday.
Lockett knocked down 13-of-17 shots from the field, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, to come within one point of her career mark of 37 points scored in a WNIT contest at Marquette last year. The game was tied at halftime, 32-32, before Lockett put on a show in the second half with 23 points.
"Quinesha was special," said Head Coach
Tricia Cullop. "We all know what she's capable of doing. She could probably do that more often but she's got a balanced team around her. But tonight we needed her to do it. It was great to see her be so aggressive, not only driving to the basket, but from the three-point line and in transition. She did a marvelous job. I'm just so proud of her."
Lockett was joined in double figures by senior guard
Jayda Jansen, who scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter. The Rockets shot 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the field and 9-of-18 from three-point range. Toledo held its own on the boards, outrebounding the Golden Flashes, 35-32, with Lockett and senior guard
Sophia Wiard each grabbing six caroms.
Kent State (10-5, 2-2 MAC) was led by freshman guard Corynne Hauser's 18 points.
The victory moved Toledo to 12-3, 3-1 in the MAC, and into a five-way tie for first place in league play. The Rockets travel to Bowling Green on Wednesday to face their arch-rivals in the latest version of the Battle of I-75.
FIRST QUARTER
- Kent State jumped out to an early 7-4 lead before the Rockets fought back to take the lead..
- Jayda Jansen knocked down a pair of threes, the second of which gave Toledo a 16-12 advantage with 2:41 left in the quarter. Jansen finished with 10 points in the quarter.
- KSU's Claire Kelly hit a buzzer-beater to cut Toledo's lead to 18-17 at the break.
SECOND QUARTER
- Quinesha Lockett's jumper at the 6:58 mark gave Toledo at 23-19 lead.
- Toledo held a narrow lead until KSU's Ann Pavlansky's put-back gave the Golden Flashes a 29-28 lead with 2:29 left in the half.
- Lockett hit a layup at the buzzer to tie the score at 32-32
- Lockett had 13 points in the first half, including 11 of Toledo's 13 second-quarter points.
THIRD QUARTER
- Toledo capped a 9-0 run with a Lockett layup to give the Rockets a 45-38 lead and force KSU to call timeout at the 6:11 mark.
- Kent State cut the lead to four points before the Rockets finished the quarter on an 11-1 run, capped by a Lockett jumper that made the score 58-44 at the quarter break.
- Lockett had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the third quarter.
FOURTH QUARTER
- Kent State cut the lead to 11 points, 61-50, on a Jenna Batsch layup with 4:59 left.
- Toledo pushed the lead back out to 71-54 on a Justina King layup at the 3:30 mark, capping an 8-2 run.
- The closest the Golden Flashes would come the rest of the way was eight points, 74-65, with 43 seconds left. Toledo made 3-of-4 free throws in the waning seconds to end any hopes of a KSU rally.
