HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Toledo women's basketball team overcame a 21-point deficit to win, 60-49, at James Madison on Wednesday night in its first game of the 2023-24 season.

Toledo trailed 36-15 at the 8:45 mark of the third quarter before storming back to win in thrilling fashion. The victory was the Rockets' largest comeback win since overcoming a 25-point deficit to beat Kent State in the 2001 MAC Tournament Championship Game.

After trailing the Dukes 33-13 at halftime, Toledo flipped the script entirely and outscored JMU 24-10 in the third quarter to make it a 43-37 game. Nan Garcia tied the game at 43-43 with back-to-back three-pointers to begin the fourth quarter and, following two James Madison free throws, Quinesha Lockett knocked down a three to give Toledo its first lead of the game at 46-45 with 4:32 to go.

Lockett's three-pointer carried extra importance as it gave her exactly 2,000 career points, making her the third player in school history to reach that benchmark. She joins Mimi Olson (2,144 points) and Kim Knuth (2,509 points) as the only Rockets to score at least 2,000 points in a career.

From that point on, Toledo never trailed. It ended the game on a 9-0 run to improbably win by double-digits and kick off its 2023-24 season in style.

"I thought we had really good shots tonight, but they just weren't going down in the first half," head coach Tricia Cullop said. "At halftime we talked about that, I told them they were good shooters and they can't second-guess themselves, they just need to shoot. Coming out for the second half I thought we did a better job of that, especially Q and Nan. I also think we worked the ball inside better and got some easy shots that we weren't getting in the first half."

Lockett scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, the seventh double-double of her career. All 13 of her points came in the second half.

"I'm just glad we were able to end our dry spell and got some shots to fall in the second half," Lockett said. "Reaching 2,000 points is an amazing feeling. I didn't even realize It happened at the time, I was just trying to win."

Sophia Wiard led all scorers with 14 points and seven assists, and she added six rebounds and three steals as well. Jessica Cook added 11 points off the bench and was 5-of-9 from the floor. In her first action since the 2021-22 season after missing last year due to injury, Hannah Noveroske scored five points, grabbed six rebounds, and blocked two shots.

After a difficult first half shooting the ball, Toledo connected on 15-of-33 (45.5%) field goals in the second half and forced 10 turnovers while committing just four. The Rockets held the Dukes to 4-of-27 (14.8%) shooting from the floor after halftime.

Toledo will stay on the road and head to Spokane, Wash. ahead of its battle vs. Gonzaga on Sunday, Nov. 12. That game will tip off at 5:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

1^st Quarter

• James Madison scored the first six points of the game, and Nan Garcia's jumper at the 6:54 mark got the Rockets on the board.
• A three-pointer from Khera Goss at the 4:42 mark cut the deficit to three and put the score at 10-7.
• Toledo connected on just 4-of-15 shots in the first quarter and trailed, 13-9.

2^nd Quarter

• Goss' basket at the 8:13 mark of the quarter cut the deficit to four points, 15-11, but would be the lone Toledo bucket in the first eight minutes of play in the second quarter.
• James Madison used the Rockets' scoring drought to build a 17-point lead, 28-11, before Sammi Mikonowicz broke the dry spell with a basket with 1:47 left in the half.
• Toledo trailed 33-13 heading into halftime.

3^rd Quarter

• The Rockets regained their shooting stroke to begin the third quarter and outscored the Dukes 12-5 in the first five minutes to put the score at 38-25.
• A three-pointer from Quinesha Lockett sparked a 7-0 run that brought the deficit back into single digits, 40-32, with 2:40 left in the quarter.
• Sophia Wiard drove to the hoop for two with less than a minute to play to make it 43-37, putting the Rockets within six heading into the fourth quarter.

4^th Quarter

• Nan Garcia drilled back-to-back threes to begin the fourth quarter and tie the score at 43-43.
• Following a three-minute stretch with no scoring from either team, Lockett hit one from beyond the arc with 4:32 to go to give Toledo its first lead of the night at 46-45. On the next UT possession, she hit another trey to up the lead to 49-45.
• James Madison twice came within two points, but Jessica Cook's three-point play with 1:05 left gave the Rockets a 55-49 lead and proved to be the exclamation point on their comeback win.
• Wiard and Lockett combined to go 6-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to ice the game and seal Toledo's first win of the year.