TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team won its seventh straight game on Wednesday, defeating Western Michigan 71-53 at Savage Arena in its first Mid-American Conference contest of the season.

The Rockets (10-2, 1-0 MAC) now own the longest active winning streak in the MAC and are off to their best start since the 2012-13 season when they began the year 11-1. They never trailed in Wednesday's win over the Broncos (5-7, 0-1 MAC), shooting 57.7 percent from the floor in the second half to pull away and notch their third straight double-digit win and their first conference victory of the year.

"I'm really proud of our players for getting off to a good start to MAC play," head coach Tricia Cullop said. "It was nice to see a zone defense, because the last time we played against a zone it wasn't our finest hour; we won, but we didn't shoot well in that game. I think we've learned a lot since then and that translated into the offensive output that we saw tonight. Western Michigan is a very good team, Lauren Ross and Taylor Williams are two of the finest players in our league, and they're well-coached. We were really glad to get this win."

Senior Sophia Wiard was outstanding, leading Toledo with 19 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists while going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Wiard and senior Quinesha Lockett both made 6-of-11 shots from the floor, the latter of whom scored 13 points, all in the second half. Junior Sammi Mikonowicz added 11 points and seven rebounds to help the cause, and junior Lonasia Brewer contributed eight points off the bench.

Western Michigan was led offensively by Lauren Ross, the MAC's leading scorer, who poured in a game-high 28 points. Taylor Williams added 16 points, but no other Bronco scored more than four.

Toledo shot 51.9 percent (28-for-54) for the game and made 7-of-19 three-point field goals. WMU shot 38.3 percent (23-for-60) from the floor, but made just 4-of-20 three-pointers. The Rockets assisted on 20-of-28 made field goals.

Following Wednesday's game vs. WMU, Toledo will travel to Northern Illinois (8-4, 0-1 MAC) to battle the Huskies on Saturday, Jan. 7. The NIU game will open a stretch of four games during which the Rockets will play opponents (Northern Illinois, Ball State, Kent State, Bowling Green) that have a combined record of 40-11.

Bleacher tickets for next week's game vs. Ball State (Jan. 11) are available for $8.00 in advance and $9.00 at the door. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Rocket Athletic Ticket Office at the Sullivan Athletic Complex in Savage Arena, contact the Rocket Athletic Ticket Office at 419-530-GOLD (4653) or go online to UTRockets.com/tix.

1^st Quarter

• Wiard and Mikonowicz opened the scoring with back-to-back buckets to give UT a 4-0 lead less than a minute into the game.
• WMU's Ross got her team on the board with a three-pointer, but Wiard upped the lead back to three points with a pair of free throws a minute later.
• The duo of Wiard and Mikonowicz accounted for Toledo's first 16 points and helped put the Midnight Blue and Gold ahead 16-9 with 3:33 to go in the quarter.
• The Rockets held the Broncos scoreless for the final 4:56 of the quarter and ended play on a 9-0 run to take a 20-9 lead in the second frame.

2^nd Quarter

• Toledo picked up right where it left off, opening play in the second quarter with an 8-2 run to take a 28-11 lead, prompting Western Michigan to call its first timeout.
• Following the timeout both teams were pretty evenly matched, with UT outscoring WMU by a narrow 8-6 margin in the final 7:18 of the quarter.
• Senior Soleil Barnes knocked down a three-pointer with just over a minute to play, but Ross answered with a trey of her own in the closing seconds of the first half.
• Toledo took a 36-19 lead into halftime.

3^rd Quarter

• Lockett played sparingly in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, but came out firing to start the second half. She scored the first six UT points of the third quarter and matched an equally-productive Ross to put the score at 42-23 at the 6:33 mark.
• Wiard and Mikonowicz scored consecutive baskets near the midway point of the quarter, sparking a 9-2 run that put Toledo's lead at a game-high 23 points, 53-30, with 1:26 to go.
• WMU's Williams scored the final four points of the third period, which trimmed the Rockets' lead to 19 points, 53-34, heading into the fourth quarter.

4^th Quarter

• Toledo shot 61.5 percent (8-for-13) in the fourth quarter, its best shooting quarter of the night.
• Western Michigan opened the fourth frame on a 7-2 run, though, to cut UT's lead to 14, 55-41.
• The lead wouldn't dip below 14 for the rest of the game, and senior Jayda Jansen's three-pointer with 1:35 to play pushed it back to 20 points, 71-51.
• The Rockets' margin of victory settled at 18 points, 71-53, when the final horn sounded.