CLEVELAND, Ohio – Senior guard Quinesha Lockett scored 17 points to lead the Toledo Rockets to a 73-58 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green in the MAC Championship finals at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Saturday.
 
        With the victory, Toledo (28-4) earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, the ninth tourney appearance in its history and first since 2017, which was also the last time Toledo won the MAC Tournament championship. It was the school record-tying 16^th consecutive win for Toledo, whose last defeat was at Bowling Green on Jan. 18.

    "I was really proud of the effort of our players today, especially right out of the gate," said Head Coach Tricia Cullop, who is headed to the NCAAs for the second time in her career. "We have a lot of respect for Bowling Green, for their coaching staff and their players, and we knew it would take a valiant effort to beat them."
 
         Lockett, who added five rebounds and six assists, was named the Tournament MVP. She totaled 44 points in three games in the tournament. Junior forward Sammi Mikonowicz and sophomore forward Jessica Cook joined Lockett on the All-Tournament Team. Cook added 16 points on 8-of-11 from the floor to go with seven rebounds vs. BGSU, while Mikonowicz added eight points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
        Toledo jumped out to a 12-0 lead and never trailed in the contest, though Bowling Green did narrow the margin to five points in the second half. But the Rockets exploded for 25 points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

    "Our players just didn't want to be denied," said Cullop. "They were locked in. I'm just so happy for them. They've never had a chance to experience this. The joy in my heart to see them experience something for the first time is unbelievable."

    It was retribution of sorts for Toledo, which won the regular-season title in each of the past two seasons but was eliminated in the semifinals last season.

    "Honestly, I think that's what got us here today, not getting everything we wanted last year," said senior guard Sophia Wiard. "We had a great season last year but we ended up in the WNIT, which was a great opportunity but it wasn't what we were looking for. Everything single day from that day forward we were hungry, and we knew we wanted to get where we ended up today."
 
        Toledo will find out its first-round opponent during the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN on Sunday at 8:00 p.m.
  
1^st Quarter

•  Toledo came out of the gates on fire, scoring the game's first nine points on 4-of-4 from the field and forcing BG to call a timeout at the 7:53 mark.
•  A Quinesha Lockett three-pointer made it 12-0 before BGSU finally got on the scoreboard.
•  The Rockets built the lead to 20-6 before BG's Elissa Brett knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to cut the lead to 20-12 at the 2:20 mark.
•  A Jessica Cook layup and Lockett free throw pushed Toledo's advantage to 23-12 at the quarter break.
•  Toledo made 9-of-13 (69.2%) shots from the field and were led by Lockett's eight points. The Falcons connected on just 5-of-15 of their attempts.

 
2^nd Quarter

•  The teams exchanged baskets, with Toledo taking a 29-17 lead into the media timeout at 4:54.
•  BG used a 7-2 run to trim the lead to 31-24 with 2:36 left.
•  Toledo took a 33-26 lead into halftime.
•  The Rockets shot just 3-of-13 (23.1%) in the second quarter to end up 12-of-26 (46.2%) for the half.
•  Cook led Toledo with 10 points on 5-of-5 from the floor and added five rebounds.
•  The Rockets held the Falcons to just 11-of-31 (35.5%) form the field in the first 20 minutes and held a 21-14 rebounding edge.

 
3^rd Quarter

•  A Nan Garcia three-pointer at the 6:43 mark increased Toledo's lead to 39-30.
•  BGSU cut the lead to 44-39 with a field goal and pair of free throws at 3:16 following a flagrant foul call on Sammi Mikonowicz on a rebound.
•  A Cook layup with 1:13 left pushed the led to 48-39.
•  BG's Allison Day hit a put-back just before the horn to make it 48-41 going into the final period.

 
4^th Quarter

•   Toledo opened the quarter with a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 54-41 and force another Falcon timeout at the 8:39 mark.
•  After a Falcon layup cut the lead to 56-45, Toledo went on a 9-0 run capped by a Lockett triple at the 4:01 mark that gave Toledo an insurmountable 65-45 lead.
•  Toledo outscored the Falcons 25-17 in the fourth quarter to cruise to victory.

 
MAC All-Tournament Team
Katie Shumate - Kent State
Elissa Brett - Bowling Green
Jessica Cook  - Toledo
Sammi Mikonowicz - Toledo
Quinesha Lockett - Toledo (MVP)