TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's basketball team captured its third consecutive outright Mid-American Conference Championship with an 83-61 victory over Kent State before a joyous crowd of 6,238 at Savage Arena on Saturday.
 
Toledo (25-4, 17-1 MAC) entered the game having already clinched a share of the MAC crown but needed a win today to earn the No. 1 seed in next week's MAC Tournament in Cleveland. The Rockets will play No. 8 seed Western Michigan at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday in quarterfinal action at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. Toledo won the 2023 MAC tourney and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, defeating Big 12 Tournament champion Iowa State in the first round.

For more information or to purchase MAC Tournament tickets, please visit utrockets.com/mactournament.
 
On Senior Day in Savage Arena, Toledo's senior backcourt duo of Quinesha Lockett and Sophia Wiard combined for 46 points to lead the Rockets, much to the delight of the adoring fans who came to bid farewell to them and fellow seniors Soleil Barnes and Yaniah Curry. Wiard sank 8-of-11 shots, including a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range, to put up 25 points along with six rebounds and five assists. Lockett scored 21 points on 7-of-13 attempts.
 
"Our seniors are special," said Head Coach Tricia Cullop, who won her 350^th career game at Toledo. "They've raised the bar. Three straight championships has never been done here before in women's basketball. More importantly, they've shown everybody how to do it with class. They're just incredible people and wonderful leaders. They're going to go on and do amazing things when they're done here. I'm just glad they're not done yet."
 
Kent State led after one quarter, 23-16, but Toledo dominated the rest of the way. A 25-15 third quarter for the Rockets put the game on ice.
 
The win was the 13^th in a row for Toledo and raised its record in Savage Arena to 41-4 over the past three seasons. The crowd of 6,238 was the fourth-largest in school history and second-largest for a regular-season game, trailing only the 7,082 that showed up in Toledo's 69-46 win over Michigan on Dec. 6 of this season. The all-time record is 7,301 vs. USC in the championship finals of the 2011 WNIT.
 
"There's not a better place to coach and play in this league than Toledo because of our amazing fans," said Cullop. "They make this an unbelievably tough place to get a win for our opponents and an unbelievable place for us to enjoy as the home team."
         
1^st Quarter

•  Kent State's Katie Shumate scored seven points to key a 14-9 KSU run to open the game.
• A short jumper by Jessica Cook cut the lead to 14-13 but KSU responded with a 9-3 run to close out the first 10 minutes and take a 23-16 lead at the quarter break.
• The Golden Flashes were hot in the first quarter, hitting 9-of-16 from the floor including 4-of-5 from long range.

2^nd Quarter

•  Sophia Wiard's three-point play capped a Toledo 13-6 run that tied the score at 29-29 with 5:26 left in the half.
• A Hannah Noveroske bucket gave Toledo a 33-30 lead with 1:24 left but KSU trimmed the lead to 33-32 at halftime.
• Toledo shot 12-of-30 (40.0%) in the first half and was led by Wiard's eight points.
• Shumate had 10 points for KSU, which connected on 12-of-29 shots (41.4%)

3^rd Quarter

•  A layup by KSU's Mikala Morris gave the Flashes a 36-35 lead, but Wiard scored five points in an 8-2 spurt that gave Toledo a 43-38 margin with 7:18 left in the quarter.
• Toledo pushed its advantage to 49-40 on a Sammi Mikonowicz layup at the 4:06 mark.
• KSU cut the margin to five but a three-point play by Quinesha Lockett made it 54-44 late in the quarter.
• A Lockett fast-break layup at the buzzer made it 58-47 going into the final 10 minutes.

4^th Quarter

• Lockett had five points and an assist in the opening moments of the quarter to extend Toledo's lead to 65-47.
• The Toledo lead grew to as much as 23 points before settling on the 83-61 final.

 
NOTES

• Saturday was the final home game for four Toledo seniors: Soleil Barnes, Yaniah Curry, Quinesha Lockett and Sophia Wiard. They were recognized in a ceremony fol­lowing today's contest. This senior class has won three MAC regular season championships, one MAC Tournament title and won an NCAA Tournament game in 2023. Their record over the last three years is 83-15, 95-25 over the past four years and 109-44 over the last five years.
• Today's attendance of 6,238 gives the Rockets an average of 4,658 per home game this season, the largest in school history and currently No. 30 in the country. The previous Toledo record was 4,614 in 1993-94. Toledo had long since clinched its 33^rd-consecutive season leading the MAC in attendance.
• Toledo's 13-game winning streak is tied for the sixth longest in school history and is its longest since winning a school-record 17 in a row last season.
• The Rockets are 83-15 since the start of the 2021-22 season and 52-4 in MAC play.
• Toledo is 41-4 at Savage Arena over the past three years (28-1 MAC).
• With today's victory, Tricia Cullop earned her 350^th career win as Toledo's head coach, trailing only Kent State's Bob Lindsay (418 wins from 1990-2012) among MAC head coaches.
• Cullop has five MAC regular season titles to her credit, the most for any Toledo women's basketball coach. She passed Mark Ehlen, who had four in his career. Cullop has won MAC titles in the last three seasons, plus 2010-11 and 2012-13.