No. 1 Toledo Faces No. 4 Kent State in MAC Tournament Semifinals

Friday, March 10

Cleveland, Ohio

10:00 a.m.

University of Toledo

No. 4 Kent State

No.1 seed Toledo will face No. 4 seed Kent State in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament on Friday at 10:00 a.m.

Photo by: Katie Manger

No. 1 Toledo Faces No. 4 Kent State in MAC Tournament Semifinals

3/9/2023 12:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

2023 MAC WBB Tournament Bracket (PDF)Game Notes (PDF)

Rockets and Golden Flashes set for 10:00 a.m. battle at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The No. 1 seed Toledo women's basketball team will face No. 4 seed Kent State on Friday morning in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. Tipoff is set for 10:00 a.m. on ESPN+.

For more information about the 2023 MAC Tournament, fans can visit utrockets.com/MACTournament to learn more about tickets, pregame festivities, and more.

2023 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 -- Quarterfinals
Game 1: No. 1 Toledo 75, No. 8 Buffalo 74 (OT)
Game 2: No. 4 Kent State 75, No. 5 Northern Illinois 68
Game 3: No. 2 Bowling Green 70, No. 7 Eastern Michigan 36
Game 4: No. 3 Ball State 92, No. 6 Akron 68

Friday, March 10th, 2023 -- Semifinals
Game 5: No. 1 Toledo vs. No. 4 Kent State, 10 AM ET (ESPN+)
Game 6: No. 2 Bowling Green vs. No. 3 Ball State, Time TBA (ESPN+)*

Saturday, March 11th, 2023 -- MAC Championship
Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 11 AM ET (CBS Sports Network)

*Minimum 30 minutes between completion of prior game in the session

TOLEDO VS. KENT STATE
Date: Friday, March 10, 2023
Tip-Off: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Arena: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (19,432)
Television: ESPN+. Dave Bacon will provide play-by-play for broadcast with Cayleigh Gordon serving as analyst.
Radio: The Voice of Toledo Women's Basketball Jim Heller will be on the call on AM 1230 WCWA in Toledo.

Toledo Won Both Meetings vs. Kent State this Season
The Rockets are 2-0 against the Golden Flashes this season, winning a pair of hard-fought contests against their semifinals opponent.

The first meeting at the M.A.C. Center on Jan. 14 saw both teams locked in a 32-32 stalemate at halftime, but Quinesha Lockett scored 23 of her season-high 36 points to lead Toledo to a 77-68 victory. Lockett was joined in double figures by Jayda Jansen, who scored all 10 of her points in the first quarter. The Rockets shot 29-of-57 (50.9%) from the field and 9-of-18 from three-point range. Toledo held its own on the boards, outrebounding the Golden Flashes, 35-32, with Lockett and Sophia Wiard each grabbing six boards.

In the second meeting on March 1, Toledo overcame a 14-point second-half deficit to win, 64-60. In that game, UT opened with a 14-2 run, but Kent State ended the first half on a 32-13 run to take a nine-point lead into halftime. The Rockets trailed by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but came out energized and relentless in the fourth quarter. After chipping away at the Golden Flashes' lead for much of the period, Lockett's three-point play gave Toledo its first lead since the second quarter and shifted the momentum towards the Midnight Blue and Gold. UT took the lead for good with 1:11 to go and never relinquished it.

MAC Quarterfinals: Toledo 75, Buffalo 74 (OT)
Quinesha Lockett scored 19 points and made a critical defensive play in overtime to lead No. 1 seed Toledo to a 75-74 victory over No. 8 seed Buffalo in Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal action at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Wednesday.

Toledo took the lead in overtime on a pair of free throws from Jayda Jansen with 14.5 seconds left. Following a timeout, Buffalo's Re'Shawna Stone drove to the basket and Lockett tied her up on the shot, forcing a held ball. Buffalo retained possession but its final shot attempt missed the mark, giving the Rockets the victory and advancing them to the semifinals.

Rocket Notes

Toledo is 8-3 all-time vs. Kent State in MAC Tournament play, with the last meeting coming in the first round of the 2018 tourney.
Wednesday's overtime win was UT's third of the season, the most OT wins in a season in school history. The last time the Rockets played at least three overtime games in a single season was in 2017-18.
Prior to Wednesday's win vs. Buffalo, the last time UT had won an overtime game in the MAC Tournament was in 2006 vs. Western Michigan.
Toledo's 26 wins this season coupled with 29 victories last year are now the most wins in back-to-back years in program history (55). The previous school record was 54 after UT won 25 games in 2009-10 and 29 games in 2010-11. The MAC record for most combined wins in back-to-back years is 58 by Bowling Green (28 in 2005-06, 31 in 2006-07).
Quinesha Lockett enters Friday's game with 1,924 career points, which ranks fourth all-time in school history. She is just 29 points away from passing Angela Drake (1993-97, 1,952 points) to move into third place all-time. Lockett has passed Rocket legends Naama Shafir (2008-13) and Dana Drew (1990-95) over the last few games. Kim Knuth (1995-99) is Toledo's all-time leading scorer with 2,509 career points.
The latest AP Top 25 poll came out on Monday and Toledo maintained its position, appearing in the "received votes" section with eight points in the poll.
The Rockets' 14-game winning streak is tied for fourth-longest in school history and is the longest since winning 15 games in a row during the 2012-13 season. Toledo's current winning streak ranks tied for eighth nationally and is the longest active streak by a MAC team.
The Rockets are 40-4 over their last 44 games vs. MAC competition, including regular season and postseason matchups.
The Rockets have reached the 90-point benchmark three times this year, the most 90-point games since the 1998-99 season.
Toledo led the MAC in averaged attendance for the 32^nd straight season this year, averaging 4,178 fans per game at Savage Arena. The Rockets also rank 24^th nationally in average attendance, third among mid-major teams, only trailing Gonzaga (5,016) and New Mexico (4,925). UT has ranked in the Top 30 nationally in average attendance in 10 of the last 11 years.

About Kent State
The No. 4 seed, Kent State advanced to the MAC Tournament semifinals after defeating No. 5 seed Northern Illinois on Wednesday, 75-68. The Golden Flashes are led by their All-MAC trio of Katie Shumate, Lindsey Thall, and Corynne Hauser. Shumate tallied a double-double in Wednesday's game against NIU, scoring 20 points while grabbing 12 rebounds, and scored 19 against Toledo on March 1. Kent State leads the MAC in scoring defense (61.7 PPG) and ranks fourth in scoring offense (71.3).