TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team moved into a tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference standings on Saturday with its 84-64 win over Eastern Michigan in front of a crowd of 4,635 fans for the annual "Rockets for the Cure" game. The win extended the Rockets' (21-4, 12-2 MAC) winning streak to nine games and pushed their home record to 12-1.

Saturday's win coupled with Ball State's 84-77 loss to Northern Illinois puts Toledo, Ball State, and Bowling Green into a three-way tie atop the conference standings. Much will be decided over the final two weeks of the regular season as the Rockets will play the Cardinals in Muncie next Saturday, Feb. 25 and the Battle of I-75 presented by Cooper Tires will take place on Saturday, March 4 at Savage Arena. Ball State and Bowling Green will face off on Wednesday, March 1 at the Stroh Center.

Toledo led wire-to-wire on Saturday, opening the game on a 12-2 run and never looking back. The lead grew into the 20's by the midway point of the second quarter and never dipped below 14 as the Rockets secured their ninth straight win and sixth straight double-digit victory.

"I'm proud of our players for fighting so hard against a team that took us to overtime in Ypsilanti," head coach Tricia Cullop said. "They're well-coached and they have good size, and I think one of the biggest stats today was only giving up four offensive rebounds against a team that had us outsized by a lot. We earned that because we boxed out better today than we have in a long time."

Senior Quinesha Lockett reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth straight game, tallying 21 points and seven rebounds while committing zero turnovers. Lockett was one of five players to reach double figures in scoring on Saturday. Junior Sammi Mikonowicz scored 14 points while going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, and sophomore Jessica Cook, senior Sophia Wiard, and senior Jayda Jansen all scored 10 points apiece.

Toledo shot a scintillating 57.1% from the floor (32-for-56), the 10^th time this season it has made at least 50% of its shots in a game. UT also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Eastern Michigan 30-23.

Four of the seven EMU players that saw the court on Saturday reached double figures, with Olivia Smith scoring a game-high 18 points. The Eagles shot 50% from three-point range (11-for-20) and made 9-of-13 three-point field goals in the second half.

The Rockets will play their next two games on the road, starting with this Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Akron before visiting Ball State on Saturday, Feb. 25. They'll wrap up the regular season at home vs. Kent State on Wednesday, March 1 and vs. Bowling Green on Saturday, March 4.

To purchase tickets to any Toledo women's basketball game, 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.

• The Rockets scored the first eight points to open the game, taking an early 8-0 lead with 7:12 left in the first quarter and prompting EMU to call an early timeout.
• Following an Eastern Michigan layup, the Rockets pieced together an 11-2 run to increase their lead to 19-4 at the 4:29 mark.
• The Eagles scored seven straight points to cut the Toledo lead back to single digits, 19-11, with 2:42 left in the quarter.
• Justina King and Jayda Jansen drilled three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to help the Rockets carry a 25-13 lead into the quarter break.
• Toledo shot a scorching 10-of 14 (71.4%) from the field in the opening quarter as Jayda Jansen led the Rockets with five points.

• Sophia Wiard scored five straight points as part of a 9-0 run to increase Toledo's lead to 23 points, 38-15.
• The Eagles countered with a pair of field goals to cut the Rockets' lead back to 19 but came no closer in the half as Toledo maintained its sizable advantage.
• The Rockets headed into halftime with a 48-26 lead behind a team-high 10 points from Wiard.

• The Eagles made 4-of-5 baskets to open the half, trimming Toledo's lead to 50-36 with 8:29 left in the quarter.
• UT outscored EMU, 6-3, over the next two minutes before both teams went on a cold spell, leaving the score stagnant at 56-39 for much of the quarter.
• A three-pointer from Sammi Mikonowicz broke the scoring drought at the 3:32 mark, and the Rockets made 5-of-6 shots to close out the quarter with a 67-44 lead.

• King and Nan Garcia opened the quarter with back-to-back buckets, increasing the Rockets' lead to 72-44 with 9:08 to play.
• Jessica Cook made a layup with 5:01 remaining to increase the Toledo lead to 30, its largest of the game.
• The Eagles cut into the Toledo lead with an 8-0 run, trimming the score to 80-58 with 3:48 left in the game.
• When the clock hit zeroes, the Rockets' found themselves on the winning end of an 84-64 decision.