TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team heads south on Wednesday night to face archrival Bowling Green in the Battle of I-75 presented by Cooper Tires. Wednesday's rivalry matchup will tip off at 7:00 p.m. in the Stroh Center and be streamed live on ESPN+.

This will be the first meeting between the Rockets (12-3, 3-1 MAC) and Falcons (14-2, 3-1 MAC) this season. The Battle of I-75 will return to Savage Arena on the final day of the regular season on Saturday, March 4. BGSU holds a slight edge in the series all-time, 44-40, but Toledo has won 10 of the last 12 games, including both contests last season.

Wednesday's game is the third in a four-game stretch during which Toledo will play a team in the top half of the MAC standings. Despite the difficult run of opponents, UT is 2-0 so far after having beaten Ball State at home, 83-76, last week and Kent State on the road this past weekend.

The Rockets are coming off a huge 77-68 win over the Golden Flashes on Saturday. Senior Quinesha Lockett was sensational in that game, scoring a season-high 36 points to help propel UT to victory in the second half. 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.

For her efforts at Kent State, Lockett was named MAC Player of the Week for the third time in her career.

Following Wednesday's rivalry game, Toledo will return home to host Akron (12-3, 3-1 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2:00 p.m.

Saturday's game will be Toledo's first-ever "Justice for Sierah" game. The Rockets are hosting this promotion in conjunction with the Justice for Sierah Foundation. For more information on the foundation, please visit justiceforsierah.org.

The game will feature several fundraisers to support the foundation, including a special ticket deal where $5 of each ticket purchased through utrockets.com/J4S will be donated to the foundation. Additionally, custom purple "Justice for Sierah" jerseys worn by the Toledo women's basketball team will be auctioned off after the game, with all proceeds going toward the foundation. The auction is now live and closes on January 23. Access the online auction at utrockets.com/Sierah.

Rocket Notes

• Once again, the Rockets lead the MAC and are among the national leaders in average attendance, ranking 24^th nationally (3,978). They rank third among mid-major teams, only trailing New Mexico (4,927) and Gonzaga (4,838). They drew 4,027 vs. Ball State last week, the third time they've drawn at least 4,000 fans to a game this season.
• As a team, the Rockets rank in the top three in the MAC in both scoring defense (2^nd, 60.3) and scoring offense (3^rd, 72.5), the only MAC team to rank in the top three in both categories.
• The Rockets rank third in the MAC in scoring margin (+12.1) and have won five games by at least 20 points.
• Toledo ranks among the top three in the league in both field goal percentage defense (38.5%) and three-point field goal percentage defense (27.8%), ranking third and first, respectively. Opponents have shot less than 30% from beyond the arc in 10 of the last 12 games.
• Toledo ranks as the best free throw shooting team in the league, ranking first in the MAC in free throw percentage (78.1%), second in free throws made per game (15.0), and third in free throw attempts (19.2). UT ranks 14^th in the country in free throw percentage and has shot 75% or higher from the charity stripe in eight of its last 10 games.
• Four regulars are shooting higher than 80% from the free throw line: Jayda Jansen (94.4%), Justina King (86.2%), Nan Garcia (84.6%), and Sophia Wiard (83.3%)

 
About Bowling Green
Bowling Green enters Wednesday's game at 14-2 with a 3-1 record in conference play. The Falcons' lone MAC defeat was an 81-73 setback at Ball State in their first league game of the season. Since then, BG has defeated Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, and Akron. Bowling Green ranks atop the MAC and eighth in the country in scoring offense (82.9 PPG) and is the only team in the league averaging at least 80 points per game. No team in the nation has a better turnover margin than the Falcons (plus-9.9), who also rank inside the Top 15 nationally in fewest turnovers per game (11.7) and turnovers forced per game (21.6). Four players are averaging double figures in scoring: Elissa Brett (13.1 PPG), Nyla Hampton (12.4 PPG), Allison Day (11.1 PPG), and Morgan Sharps (11.1 PPG).