Toledo Returns Home to Host Northern Illinois on Wednesday Night

Wednesday, January 24

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Northern Illinois

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After playing its last two games on the road, Toledo returns home to host Northern Illinois on Wednesday night.

Photo by: Haley Boehm

Toledo Returns Home to Host Northern Illinois on Wednesday Night

1/23/2024 3:31:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)

Rockets and Huskies will tip off at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+

TOLEDO, Ohio – After playing its last two games on the road, the Toledo women's basketball team returns home on Wednesday to host Northern Illinois.

The Rockets (12-4, 5-1 MAC) and Huskies (9-8, 3-3 MAC) will tip off at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN+.

UT is coming off a 1-1 week where it played two of the toughest teams in the MAC. Toledo defeated Kent State on the road, 87-67, last Wednesday before falling at Ball State by a score of 63-51 on Sunday night.

Last Time Out
Toledo saw its six-game winning streak come to an end at Ball State on Sunday night.

The Rockets led the Cardinals by five at the end of the first quarter. However, UT was outscored 23-8 in the second quarter and trailed by 10 heading into halftime. The lopsided second frame, combined with a season-high-tying 23 turnovers, proved to be too much for Toledo to overcome in the second half of its first MAC loss of the season.

Quinesha Lockett led Toledo with 15 points, the lone Rocket to reach double figures. Sophia Wiard nearly joined her with nine points, and Sammi Mikonowicz contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

Nobody Has Played More Basketball at Toledo Than Sophia Wiard!
When Sophia Wiard steps on the court on Wednesday night, she will be appearing in her 140^th game in her collegiate career. That will break the tie atop the career games played leaderboard with Naama Shafir (2009-13), who played in 139 games at Toledo. Wiard already broke Shafir's career minutes played record last Wednesday at Kent State.

Quinesha Lockett Moving Up Career Scoring List
After missing six games due to injury, Quinesha Lockett returned to action last week and resumed her ascension up Toledo's career scoring list. Entering Wednesday's game she has 2,137 points, putting her eight points away from passing Mimi Olson (1993-97) to move into second place all-time at UT. Kim Knuth (1995-99) is Toledo's all-time leading scorer with 2,509 points.

Rocket Notes

Sammi Mikonowicz enters Wednesday's game with 966 career points, putting her 34 away from becoming the 33^rd 1,000-point scorer in program history.
Mikonowicz is also close to cracking the Top 10 for career rebounds at Toledo. She's sitting at 777 right now and is five away from passing Inma Zanoguera (2011-15) to move into 10^th place.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Toledo is 40-4 in conference play. UT is 5-1 this year, 16-2 a year ago, and 19-1 in 2021-22.
Toledo has held opponents to 50 or fewer points five times this season and has held opponents to fewer than 60 points in five of the last seven.
UT leads the MAC in scoring defense (58.94) and is the only team in the league to be holding opponents to fewer than 60 points per game.
The Rockets have done a good job of controlling the boards in MAC play and lead the league in rebounding margin (+9.17) in conference games.
Toledo is the top free throw shooting team in the MAC, ranking first with a 75.0 FT%. Wiard is UT's top free throw shooter (87.7%) and is third in the MAC in free throw percentage.
Wiard is having the best three-point shooting season ever by a Rocket, having connected on 31-of-68 three-pointers. Her three-point field goal percentage (45.6%) would be the highest ever in a season in school history.
One more Wiard note: She is shooting 56.3% from the floor (36-for-64) in MAC play and a remarkable 68.0% from three-point range (17-for-25).
Hannah Noveroske is averaging 1.48 BPG, which ranks third in the MAC. She has blocked a season-best three shots on three occasions this year, most recently at Miami.

About Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is 9-8 overall and 3-3 in conference play and is coming off a 70-57 home win vs. Central Michigan on Saturday. Two Huskies are averaging double figures in scoring: Jayden Marable (11.9 PPG) and Brooke Stonebraker (10.9 PPG). Stonebraker is one of the top rebounders in the MAC as well, averaging 8.41 per game. NIU does a good job handling the ball, ranking third in the league in assist/turnover ratio (0.91).

All-Time Series vs. NIU
Toledo leads the all-time series vs. Northern Illinois, 40-23, and owns a 23-6 edge when playing at home. The Rockets have won four of the last five meetings, but the Huskies won the lone meeting last year in DeKalb, a 67-66 win.

Next Up
Toledo's next game is Saturday, Jan. 27 at home vs. Buffalo, which will also be the "Justice for Sierah" game. The Rockets are hosting this promotion in conjunction with the Justice for Sierah Foundation, which aims to protect communities by implementing the Ohio violent offender database, known as Sierah's Law, in all 50 states, as well as empowering youth through the establishment of self-awareness and self-defense in school curricula and communities through the Sierah Strong Program. Learn more about this foundation at www.justiceforsierah.org. The custom purple "Justice for Sierah" jerseys will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going toward the foundation. The auction is live now and closes on January 29. Access the online auction at utrockets.com/JFS.

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.