TOLEDO, Ohio – A raucous crowd of 6,077 fans packed Savage Arena to watch the Toledo women's basketball team defeat Bowling Green, 82-70, in the Battle of I-75 on Saturday afternoon.

It was the third-largest regular season crowd in program history, trailing only the sellout vs. Michigan earlier this season and last year's regular season finale vs. Bowling Green.

The Rockets (16-4, 9-1 MAC) led wire-to-wire in their victory vs. the Falcons (11-9, 5-5 MAC), the first time they've done that to an opponent since the MAC Tournament Championship Game last year vs. BGSU. Toledo also claimed its 19^th straight home MAC win and improved to 8-1 at home this season.

UT grabbed a 9-2 lead to start the game, though the Falcons made it a one-point game early in the second quarter. The Rockets ended the first half on a 16-4 run to take a 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime and grew their lead to as high as 19 points in the third quarter. Bowling Green battled back, however, and cut Toledo's lead back to single-digits in the final period. Big shots by Khera Goss and Quinesha Lockett in the final minutes ensured the Falcons would get no closer.

"I'm really proud of our players for getting this victory," head coach Tricia Cullop said. "It was a good game between two quality teams. One thing you can always count on with this rivalry is that it's always the most attended women's game in the MAC. We both have storied programs with strong winning traditions. I love this rivalry, it's a lot of fun to be a part of. I thought we did a nice job in the first half, which was very physical, and I thought we played well in the second half too when things got a little tighter."

Sammi Mikonowicz was one of four players to reach double figures in scoring on Saturday, and in doing so she became the 33^rd player in program history to join the 1,000 Point Club. Six of her 10 points came from the free throw line, and she scored her 1,000^th point at the charity stripe as well.

Sophia Wiard led Toledo with 18 points, going 6-for-11 from the floor, and Quinesha Lockett wasn't far behind with 15 points. Nan Garcia reached double figures for the second straight game, pouring in 11 points while making 2-of-3 shots from beyond the arc. Soleil Barnes provided a spark of the bench, knocking down two three-pointers and scoring eight points.

Bowling Green's Paige Kohler scored a game-high 22 points and was one of three Falcons to reach double-digits. Erika Porter scored 18 points and Morgan Sharps added 12.

Next up for Toledo is a trip to Central Michigan this Wednesday, Feb. 7 before returning home to host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, Feb. 10 at noon. The matchup with ULM is the second leg of the MAC-SBC Challenge.

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.
 
1^st Quarter

• Quinesha Lockett and Sophia Wiard each scored four points early as Toledo jumped out to a 13-4 lead with 3:42 to go in the first quarter. 
• BGSU ended the quarter on an 8-4 run to cut Toledo's to 17-12 at the break. 

 
2^nd Quarter

• A pair of Falcon buckets cut the lead to 17-16, but Khera Goss and Nan Garcia scored on back-to-back possessions to up the lead to five once again.
• Soleil Barnes scored eight straight points in the last two minutes to highlight a 16-4 scoring run and give Toledo a 37-22 lead at halftime.  
• Wiard and Barnes paced the Rockets with eight points apiece as Toledo shot 14-28 (50.0%) in the first half while holding BG to just 9-25 (36.0%) from the field.  

 
3^rd Quarter

• Garcia's three-pointer early in the quarter pushed the lead to a game-high 19 points.
• BGSU's Olivia Hill hit consecutive three-pointers and brought the lead back down to 13 points, 45-32, at the 6:04 mark.  
• Sammi Mikonowicz made four free throws in an 8-2 run that pushed Toledo's lead to 58-40 with 1:54 left in the quarter.  
• Wiard scored eight points in the third quarter as the Rockets' made 7-12 (58.3%) shots from the field and held onto a 63-47 edge heading into the fourth quarter.  

4^th Quarter

• Bowling Green used a 9-1 scoring spurt to trim Toledo's lead to eight, 71-63, with 5:02 to play.
• Goss was fouled going to the rim and made the basket and the ensuing free throw for a three-point play at the 3:42 mark to make it a 10-point game.  
• Mikonowicz made a pair of free throws with 1:47 left, the first of which was her 1,000^th career point.
• Lockett's three-pointer with 30 seconds left was the finishing touch on Toledo's 12-point win over its archrivals.