TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team clinched its second straight outright Mid-American Conference Championship on Saturday with a thrilling 62-56 comeback victory vs. Bowling Green.

In front of a regular-season record 6,086 fans at Savage Arena on Saturday, Toledo overcame a 17-point deficit against arch-rival Bowling Green (25-5, 14-4 MAC) in the Battle of I-75 presented by Cooper Tires. It was the second-straight double-digit comeback for UT and the fourth such comeback victory during the team's 13-game winning streak.

The Rockets (25-4, 16-2 MAC) will be the No. 1 seed in next week's MAC Tournament and will face No. 8 Buffalo at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8 in the first quarterfinal game at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. For more information or to purchase MAC Tournament tickets please visit utrockets.com/MACTournament.

Toledo led for much of the first quarter on Saturday before BGSU scored nine unanswered points to take a 14-9 lead at the break. The Falcons' lead grew to nine points at halftime and ballooned to 17 points, 37-20, with 5:49 to go in the third quarter. The Rockets proceeded to score nine straight points to pull within nine, and ended the quarter on a 9-2 run to pull within five, 45-40, heading into the fourth.

Toledo opened the fourth quarter with 10 straight points to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point lead and never looked back. Junior Nan Garcia led the charge with eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in the final quarter and put an exclamation point on Saturday's victory with an emphatic block in the closing seconds.

"After that first half, my biggest job was making sure our players knew we could still win this game," head coach Tricia Cullop said. "I thought when we finally started focusing on taking care of the basketball and effectively running our offense, good things started to happen. I thought our press helped as well, we were able to take them out of their offensive rhythm. I thought our composure was outstanding."

Garcia scored 10 points off the bench on Saturday and was one of three Rockets to score in double figures. Junior Sammi Mikonowicz tallied her fourth double-double of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing 13 rebounds while making 8-of-10 free throws. Mikonowicz nearly had a double-double in the second half alone, scoring 14 points and pulling down eight boards after halftime. Senior Quinesha Lockett scored 13 points, her 28^th double-digit scoring effort of the season.

Toledo shot 47.5% from the floor, including a robust 65.0% (13-of-20) in the second half. The Rockets also outrebounded Bowling Green 23-10 in the second half as well.

Bowling Green was led by Elissa Brett and her game-high 23 points, 21 of which came on three-point field goals. The Falcons shot 29.4% from the field and made just 3-of-16 shots in the fourth quarter.

• The Rockets scored the first five points of the game, and a three-pointer by Sammi Mikonowicz put them ahead 5-0 at the 8:11 mark of the quarter.  
• Both teams exchanged baskets over the next four minutes, and a layup by Nan Garcia with 3:54 to go kept UT's lead at four points, 9-5.
• Bowling Green ended the quarter with nine straight points to take a 14-9 lead into the break. 

• An Elissa Brett three pointer extended the Falcons' lead to 18-10 at the 8:16 mark.  
• After a 4-0 run by the Rockets, Brett made a jumper to put the Falcons ahead 23-16 with 2:54 left until halftime.  
• Jocelyn Tate scored four points at the end of the quarter to push give the Falcons a 27-18 asvantage going into halftime.  
• Neither team saw much shooting success in the second quarter, as Toledo shot 30.0% (6-of-20) and BGSU made just 4-of-19 shots (21.1%).
• Jessica Cook led the Rockets in the first half with six points and added four rebounds.  

• BGSU's Lexi Fleming opened the second half with a three-pointer that sparked a 10-2 run.
• The Falcons led by a game-high 17 points, 37-20, with 5:49 left in the quarter.
• The Rockets immediately responded with nine straight points to make it a 37-29 ballgame, but Bowling Green quickly rebuilt its lead back up to 12.
• Toledo ended the third quarter by scoring 9 of the last 11 points to pull within five, 45-40, with one quarter to play.

• The Rockets came out firing to begin the fourth quarter, scoring the first 10 points to take their first lead since the first quarter.  
• Garcia opened the scoring with back-to-back baskets to put UT within a point, and Mikonowicz drained a pair of free throws at the 7:50 mark to put Toledo ahead 46-45.
• Brett's sixth three-pointer of the game put the Falcons back within a point, 50-49, with 4:14 to play, but they would get no closer.
• Toledo turned it over with 30 seconds remaining, but Garcia chased Brett down and sent her shot attempt flying, sending the Savage Arena crowd into a frenzy with her emphatic block.
• The MAC's top free throw shooting team, Toledo overcame some early struggles from the line to go 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the closing seconds to ice the game.