Toledo Brings Five-Game Winning Streak into Wednesday’s Battle at Kent State

Wednesday, January 17

Kent, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Kent State

Toledo and Kent State are both unbeaten in MAC play heading into Wednesday's contest.

Toledo Brings Five-Game Winning Streak into Wednesday’s Battle at Kent State

1/15/2024 12:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

Matchup between two of MAC’s remaining unbeatens tips off at 7:00 p.m.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in Mid-American Conference play will meet on Wednesday night when the Toledo women's basketball team visits Kent State. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

The Rockets (11-3, 4-0 MAC) have won five straight games heading into Wednesday's matchup, and the Golden Flashes (10-4, 4-0 MAC) have won six in a row. Kent will also be putting its 5-0 home record on the line.

Toledo, Kent State, and Ball State (14-2, 4-0 MAC) are all locked in a three-way tie atop the MAC standings entering Wednesday's slate. The Cardinals will face Central Michigan at 11:00 a.m. in Mount Pleasant. Toledo and Ball State will face off this weekend on Sunday, Jan. 21 in Muncie in a nationally televised contest on CBS Sports Network.

Last Time Out
Toledo dominated the glass this past Saturday and won its fifth straight game, a 63-50 victory vs. Ohio at Savage Arena.

Toledo outrebounded Ohio, 52-29, and collected 23 offensive rebounds in the victory. Khera Goss scored a team-best 15 points, while Hannah Noveroske and Emmi Rinat followed close behind with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Goss and Noveroske were both one rebound shy of a double-double, collecting nine rebounds apiece. Nan Garcia's 11 boards were the most of any player on the floor on Saturday.

Sophia Wiard Approaching Two Major Records
Few players in program history have played as much basketball as Sophia Wiard. She enters Wednesday's game ranking second all-time in games played (137) in career minutes played (4,216). Rockets' great Naama Shafir owns both records currently, having played 4,218 minutes and appeared in 139 games at Toledo. Wiard will likely pass Shafir for most career minutes played at Toledo in the first quarter of Wednesday's game.

All-Time Series vs. Kent State
Toledo leads the all-time series, 48-35, and has won the last five meetings. UT went 3-0 against Kent last season, which includes a 68-58 win in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. The Rockets defeated the Golden Flashes on the road last year, 77-68.

Rocket Notes

Toledo and Kent State both rank in the top two in the MAC in scoring margin and rebounding margin against league competition. Kent leads the league in scoring margin in MAC play (+23.50) and ranks second in rebounding margin (+10.25) while UT is flipped, ranking second in scoring margin (+17.75) and first in rebounding margin (+11.75).
The Rockets are outrebounding their opponents 211-138 during their five-game winning streak.
Toledo's 52 rebounds on Saturday vs. Ohio were the most in a game since collecting 54 rebounds vs. Oakland last season.
Twenty-three of its rebounds came on the offensive end, the highest offensive rebound output since recording 25 offensive boards at Northern Illinois on March 1, 2017.
Toledo has now won 16 straight MAC home games and improved its record in home conference games to 33-4 since the start of the 2021-22 season.
The Rockets have held opponents to 50 or fewer points five times this season and have held opponents to fewer than 60 points in each of the last five games. They rank atop the MAC in scoring defense (57.29) and are one of two teams allowing fewer than 60 points per game, the other being Kent State (58.43).
Hannah Noveroske is averaging 1.54 BPG, which ranks third in the MAC. She has blocked a season-best three shots on three occasions this year, most recently at Miami.
Noveroske has been excellent during Toledo's five-game winning streak, averaging 11.6 PPG and 6.8 RPG while connecting on 65.8% of her shots from the floor (25-for-38).
Toledo is the top free throw shooting team in the MAC, ranking first with a 75.3 FT%. Sophia Wiard is UT's top free throw shooter (85.7%) and is tied for second in the MAC in free throw percentage.
Wiard leads the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.18) and ranks second in assists (5.20). She has led Toledo in assists in 12 of 14 games this year.
Wiard has 535 career assists, which ranks 12^th among active Division I players and first among active MAC players.

About Kent State
Kent State has won six straight games and has dominated MAC play so far, winning its four MAC games by an average of 23.5 points. The Golden Flashes earned a high-major win earlier this year when they took down Missouri, 67-64, in Daytona Beach. Kent leads the MAC in scoring offense (74.0 PPG) and ranks second in scoring defense (58.4 PPG).

Next Up
Following its nationally televised game vs. Ball State this Sunday, Toledo's will return home on Wednesday, Jan. 24 to host Northern Illinois. To purchase Toledo Women's Basketball tickets, 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.