First-Place Rockets Head to Northern Illinois Looking for 10th Straight Win

Wednesday, February 28

DeKalb, Ill.

7:00 p.m.

University of Toledo

Northern Illinois

Sammi Mikonowicz led the Rockets with a career-high 24 points in their 70-48 win over Ball State on Saturday.

Photo by: Haley Boehm

First-Place Rockets Head to Northern Illinois Looking for 10th Straight Win

2/27/2024 2:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Toledo WBB notes

Toledo has one-game lead over Ball State with four games left in regular season

TOLEDO, Ohio - The Toledo women's basketball team will be going for its 10th consecutive victory when it travels to Northern Illinois on Wednesday (6:00 p.m. CT/7:00 p.m. ET/ESPN+).

Toledo (21-4, 13-1 MAC) is in first place in the Mid-American Conference standings, one game ahead of Ball State, following its 70-48 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday in Savage Arena. Senior guard Sammi Mikonowicz led the offense with a career-high tying 24 points on 10-of-14 from the field.

Northern Illinois (13-13, 6-8 MAC) is coming off an 82-73 home-court loss to Bowling Green last Saturday.

Toledo won the first meeting with the Huskies, 72-57, at Savage Arena on Jan. 24. That was the first victory in the current nine-game winning streak. Toledo's run is its longest since winning a school-record 17 in a row last season, with a margin of victory in the nine-game span of 19.1 points.

Last Time Out

In the battle for first place in the Mid-American Conference, the Toledo women's basketball team used a smothering defense to defeat Ball State, 70-48, before 5,556 fans at Savage Arena on Saturday.

Toledo entered the game tied with Ball State for the top spot in conference, as both teams seek the No. 1 seed in next month's MAC Tournament and the Rockets look to win their third consecutive regular-season crown.

But after a slow start, the showdown turned out to be no contest, as Toledo built a 27-16 halftime lead into a 17-point margin at the end of the third quarter and as much as 26 points in the final period. The victory was the Rockets' ninth-consecutive and 21^st in a row at home vs. MAC opponents.

The Rockets held Ball State to just 18-of-54 (33.3%) shooting and out-rebounded the Cardinals, 47-26. In the last two games, including Wednesday's 68-36 win over Miami, Toledo has held its opponents to 42.0 ppg and 29.5% from the field. Sammi Mikonowicz led the offense with a career-high tying 24 points (18 in the second half) on 10-of-14 from the field. She added five rebounds, three assists and tied her career high with four steals.

Rocket Notes

• Toledo is now 79-15 (48-4 MAC) over the past three seasons, including 39-4 at Savage Arena (25-1 MAC).
• Toledo's 79 wins over the past three seasons is tied with Iowa for 10th nationally among all Division I schools (through Feb. 25).
• Toledo has won 21 consecutive MAC home games.
• In conference play, UT is 13-1 this year, was 16-2 a year ago, and 19-1 in 2021-22.
• Toledo is also 31-7 (.816) on opponents' home courts and 9-4 (.692) on neutral floors.
• Toledo has hit the 20-win mark for the third consecutive season and the ninth time under Head Coach Tricia Cullop.