TOLEDO, Ohio – Locked in a three-way tie for first place in the Mid-American Conference, the Toledo women's basketball team (22-4, 13-2 MAC) heads to Ball State (23-5, 13-2 MAC) this Saturday in a contest between two of the league's best. The Rockets and Cardinals will tip off inside Worthen Arena at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN3.

Toledo, Ball State, and Bowling Green are all tied for first place in the MAC with just three games to go in the regular season. All three teams will play each other over the final week of the regular season, starting with Saturday's matchup in Muncie. Bowling Green and Ball State will play in the Stroh Center on Wednesday, March 1 before the Rockets and Falcons resume their rivalry in Savage Arena on the final day of the regular season, Saturday, March 4.

All three teams are 1-1 against the other two entering play this weekend. Toledo defeated Ball State but lost to Bowling Green, while the Cardinals beat the Falcons in their lone meeting to date.

Toledo and Ball State last played on Jan. 11 at Savage Arena in a game UT won, 83-76. The Rockets led big after the first quarter in that matchup, but found themselves trailing the Cardinals by two points heading into the locker room at halftime. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the floor in the second half, but Toledo forced 10 turnovers and made 16-of-19 free throws to pull away down the stretch to claim the victory

The Rockets enter Saturday's game as the hottest team in the MAC after extending their winning streak to 10 games on Wednesday at Akron. UT found itself in trouble early though, trailing 18-5 with 3:54 to go in the first quarter due to Akron's hot shooting. The Zips made 8-of-9 three-point field goals in the first quarter and shot 10-of-13 from the floor overall. The Rockets closed out the first half on a 9-3 run to pull within a point at halftime, and opened the third quarter with seven straight points to take their first lead of the night. Toledo never relinquished the lead after that and withstood a late Akron charge to hold on for the win.

Jayda Jansen had an excellent shooting night, scoring 19 points on 7-of-10 shots while making 5-of-7 three-pointers. Her 19 points are a season-high and her most-ever in a Rocket uniform. Sophia Wiard poured in a team-best 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out four assists.

Following Saturday's game, Toledo will 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.

Rocket Notes

• The Rockets are second in the MAC and 11^th in the country in assist-turnover ratio (1.30), and they also rank 12^th nationally and first in the league in fewest turnovers per game (12.3).
• UT has committed 12 or fewer turnovers in 18 of its 26 games, including eight of the last nine. Toledo has committed fewer than 10 turnovers in a game four times.
• As a team, the Rockets rank second the MAC in scoring defense (62.4) and third in scoring offense (74.7), joining Bowling Green as the only teams in the MAC to rank in the top three in both categories. Toledo has held its opponents to fewer than 65 points in seven of the last 10 games.
• The Rockets rank third in the MAC in scoring margin (+12.3) and have won seven games by at least 20 points. UT has won 16 games by double digits.
• The Rockets are 34-3 over their last 37 regular-season conference games.
• Sophia Wiard ranks 10^th in the country and second in the MAC with a 2.60 assist/turnover ratio. Wiard has led Toledo in assists or shared the team lead in 17 of 26 games this season and has led the MAC in assist/turnover ratio each of the last two seasons.
• Jayda Jansen is averaging 21.6 minutes per game in MAC play compared to 18.9 overall for the season. She has cracked 20 minutes in playing time in each of the last five games.
• Quinesha Lockett enters Saturday's game with 1,848 career points, which ranks sixth all-time in and is 27 points away from passing Naama Shafir (2008-13, 1,874 points) to move into fifth place all-time. Kim Knuth (1995-99) is Toledo's all-time leading scorer with 2,509 career points.
• Lockett's 1,848 career points are the most among current MAC players, just ahead of Miami's Peyton Scott (1,832). Lockett ranks No. 34 among active D1 players in career points and has played in 116 career games, fewer than all but four of the players ranked ahead of her. Lockett and Scott are the only two MAC players in the Top 50 among active career scoring leaders.
• Jessica Cook has shot the ball extremely well during MAC play. She has connected on 48-of-77 shots from the floor (62.3%) and was a perfect 7-for-7 vs. Akron.
• In fact, four of Toledo's five starters are shooting at least 45% from the floor in conference play: Cook (62.3%), Sammi Mikonowicz (54.0%), Lockett (47.0%), and Wiard (50.5%).

 
About Ball State
Ball State suffered its second conference loss of the season last Saturday at Northern Illinois, 84-77, but bounced back with a dominant 80-49 win against Western Michigan at home on Wednesday. One of the top scoring teams in the country, the Cardinals rank second in the MAC and 19^th nationally in scoring offense (78.0 PPG) and have four players averaging double figures in scoring: Anna Clephane (15.1 PPG), Thelma Dis Agustsdottir (12.9 PPG), Ally Becki (11.1 PPG), and Madelyn Bischoff (10.1 PPG). Dis Agustsdottir is one of the top three-point shooting threats in the nation, ranking fifth in three-pointers per game (3.2).