CHEROKEE, N.C. – The Toledo women's basketball team finished out a 2-0 week and earned the Cherokee Invitational tournament crown with a 71-63 victory over Liberty on Thursday.
 
The Rockets (7-2) once again rallied in the second half, going on a 21-4 run in the third quarter to take an 11-point lead, before holding back the Flames (7-4) in the final stanza.
 
"I'll really proud of our personnel execution and our defensive scout this week," said Head Coach Ginny Boggess. "We made tremendous growth on the defensive end of the court not only in the box score but in the energy in which we played. That led to success on the offensive end this week. There was a palpable 'refuse to lose' mentality this week. I'm proud of our culture and I'm especially happy for our seniors, and we get to relax going into the holiday break."
 
The Rockets were led by graduate student Khera Goss who scored 18 points on 5-of-8 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Freshman Kendall Carruthers added 17 points and was 8-for-9 from the charity stripe, while graduate student Sammi Mikonowicz chipped in 13 points offensively. Toledo was also led on the assist board by Goss, who had three on the evening.
 
Graduate student Hannah Noveroske had a big day on the boards, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds including four on the offensive glass. She also blocked four shots, one away from her career high. Mikonowicz added seven rebounds while graduate student Nan Garcia added six.

First Quarter – Toledo 20, Liberty 17

• Kendall Carruthers and Sammi Mikonowicz drained back-to-back threes to take an early 8-3 lead.
• The Flames would find the tying buckets at 12-12 and 14-14, the latter coming at the 3:40 mark.
• The Rockets would grab the last four points of the quarter to push back ahead into the lead.
• Toledo shot 8-of-14 (57.1%) in the period.

Second Quarter – Liberty 35, Toledo 33

• Liberty opened up on a 6-0 run in the first 1:51 of the quarter to take a 23-20 lead.
• The Rockets then took at pair of one-point leads, before the Flames went on a 7-0 run in 59 seconds to take a 33-27 lead at the 3:20 mark.
• Khera Goss' three in the final minute cut the deficit to 35-33.

Third Quarter – Toledo 54, Liberty 43

• The Rockets out-scored Liberty 21-8 in the period.
• Down 39-33, Toledo went on an 8-0 run over 3:14 to take a 41-39 lead halfway through the quarter.
• The Rockets then went on another 7-0 run, including a Nan Garcia three to go up 48-41 and force a Liberty timeout at the 2:33 mark.
• UT then poured in the final six points of the period to go up double-digits.
• The Rockets took all six free throw attempts in the quarter, going 4-for-6.

Fourth Quarter – Toledo 71, Liberty 63

• A three by Goss and a pair of free throws gave the Rockets their biggest lead of the night at 59-44.
• The Flames scored six straight to pull within single-digits, cutting the UT advantage to 59-50 with 6:22 left to play.
• Liberty later closed to within five in the final two minutes, but Toledo iced the game with seven made free throws in the final minute as part of a 7-1 run.

Game Notes

• Noveroske reached 77 career blocks, moving into seventh in Toledo history.
• Carruthers eclipsed 15 points for the fourth time this season.

UP NEXT
The Rockets will conclude 2024 with a matchup against Defiance on Saturday, Dec. 28. Tip off at Savage Arena will be at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN+.