BOWLING GREEN, Ohio  - Quinesha Lockett scored a season-high 26 points and added seven rebounds, a career-high tying seven assists and three steals to lead the Toledo women's basketball team to an 88-68 victory over arch-rival Bowling Green in the latest edition of the Battle of I-75 in Bowling Green on Saturday.

Sophia Wiard (13 points) and Hannah Noveroske (10) also scored in double figures for Toledo (19-4, 11-1 MAC), which saw seven players score at least eight points.
 
The victory was the seventh consecutive for Toledo which kept pace with Ball State at the top of the Mid-American Conference. It was also the fourth consecutive win in the series for the Rockets, who also defeated the Falcons in Toledo, 82-70, on Feb. 3.
 
"I'm really proud of our effort today," said Head Coach Tricia Cullop, who moves to 18-6 against Bowling Green and 8-2 in the Stroh Center. "I have so much respect for this rivalry and also for BG. They shoot the ball so well that it's really hard to guard them.
 
"I thought our press was just awesome. When we needed to break the game open, the press is what I can attribute the most of that to. I was really proud of how intense and aggressive our kids were in our press to get the steals. Points off turnovers was 32-6, and then our bench outscored theirs 30-2. Those two stats were telling and a big reason we won."
 
Toledo never trailed in the contest, opening up a 13-5 lead midway through the first quarter, then extending the margin to as many as 16 points in the first half before settling on a 39-26 halftime edge. The closest Bowling Green (12-11, 6-6 MAC) could come was 10 points midway through the third quarter. Toledo then closed out the quarter with a 21-11 run that made the score 66-49. The Falcons never threatened in the fourth quarter.
 
Toledo shot 31-of-64 (.484) and 8-of-20 (.400) from three-point range.  The Rockets' defense was a key factor as they held the Falcons to just 25-of-57 (.439) from the field and forced 20 turnovers on nine steals. UT also held the edge on the boards, 36-34.
 
Lockett, who scored 19 of her 26 points in the second half, played her finest game since returning from an injury on Jan. 17 following a month out of the lineup.
 
"It was awesome to see her be herself because we all know what she's capable of," said Cullop of the reigning MAC Player of the Year. "It's been a long climb back from the injury to show the things she knows she can do. I feel like she's getting more and more comfortable at just the right time."

Toledo will attempt to win its eighth straight game when it returns home on Wednesday to take on Miami in a 7:00 p.m. game.
           
1^st Quarter

•  Toledo jumped out to a 13-5 lead powered by a pair of three-pointers by Sophia Wiard.
•  BG's Amy Velasco hit a left-handed turnaround shot at the buzzer to cut Toledo's lead to 17-12 at the quarter break.
•  The Rockets opened the quarter 6-of-12 from the field before misfiring on three of their last four attempts.

2^nd Quarter

•  Quinesha Lockett hit a jumper and a three-pointer as Toledo opened up the second quarter with a 7-0 run to take a 24-12 lead with 7:39 left in the half.
•  Toledo increased the lead to 16 points when a Wiard triple made it 36-20 with 2:37 left.
•  BGSU ended the half on a 6-3 run to trim the lead to 39-26 at halftime.
•  Toledo shot 46.7% (14-of-30) from the floor in the first half, 5-of-10 from three-point range.
•  Wiard led the way with 11 points, connecting on 3-of-3 from behind the arc.

3^rd Quarter

•  Bowling Green cut the lead to 45-35, before Toledo put on a full-court press that forced two turnovers leading to four points, increasing the lead to 52-35 and forcing BGSU to call timeout with 4:37 left.
•  Toledo increased the lead to 65-43 on a three-point play by Lockett with 1:29 left before BG trimmed the margin with a 6-1 spurt to make it 66-49 headed into the fourth.

4^th Quarter

•   BGSU scored the first five points of the fourth quarter as Morgan Sharps' three-pointer with 8:46 left cut the lead to 66-54.
•  Toledo responded with an 8-2 run that effectively put the game on ice.

NOTES

•  The backcourt tandem of Lockett and Wiard combined for 12 assists and zero turnovers.
•  Toledo's bench outscored BG's 30-2.
•  Toledo scored 32 points off BGSU's 20 turnovers.
• Toledo defeated BGSU for the fourth consecutive time to cut the Falcons' lead in the all-time series to 45-44.
•  Toledo is now 46-4 in MAC play over the past three seasons and 31-7 on opponents' home court over the same time span.
• With the victory, Toledo has officially clinched a spot in the MAC Tournament.