KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Toledo women's basketball team fell in a defense-heavy Mid-American contest to Western Michigan, 41-38 at Read Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.
 
The Rockets (11-4, 3-2 MAC) had a chance to tie the game in their final possession but Kendall Carruthers' three-pointer missed at the buzzer.

The game was close throughout. Following a 20-20 tie at halftime, the Broncos (7-8, 4-1 MAC) took the lead late in the third quarter and held the advantage throughout the entire fourth period.
 
"We came up against a very prepared Western Michigan team tonight," said Head Coach Ginny Boggess. "I thought we got some really good looks, but they just didn't go in for us. Back to the drawing board. We'll need to continue to be aggressive on the offensive boards and give ourselves second-chance opportunities, and we've got to take better care of the basketball."
 
Graduate student Khera Goss led the Rockets with 11 points on 5-of-10 from the field, while sophomore Kendall Carruthers added 10. Freshmen Destiny Robinson and Faith Fedd-Robinson each led the Rockets with two assists on the evening.
 
Fedd Robinson also led Toledo on the glass with eight rebounds, all coming on the defensive end, and in steals with two. Carruthers secured six rebounds while Goss collected five.
 
Toledo shot 31.4% from the field compared to 30.4% for Western Michigan. The Rockets were hurt by turnovers, committing 22 to Western Michigan's 17.
 
First Quarter – Toledo 9, Western Michigan 8

• Toledo took a 7-5 lead at the media timeout with buckets from Destiny Robinson, Khera Goss and Nan Garcia.
• Goss also knocked down the closing bucket of the quarter to re-gain the lead heading into the break.
• The quarter marked the first time this season where both teams did not reach double-figures in the same quarter.

Second Quarter – Toledo 20, Western Michigan 20

• The Broncos tied the game 13-13 at the 6:45 mark with three-pointer from Marina Asensio.
• Toledo took three separate leads after the media timeout, but WMU responded to tie the game in the final minute.
• Kendall Carruthers and Garcia each had four points to lead Toledo.

Third Quarter – Western Michigan 31, Toledo 28

• Down 24-23, Faith Fedd-Robinson came up with a steal at half court, then found Goss for a triple in the corner for a 26-24 lead.
• Megan Wagner knocked down a three and Asensio added a jumper for a 29-26 Bronco lead in the final minute. Both teams then scored on their final possessions of the quarter.
• Both teams had long scoring droughts, with Toledo's longest at 3:45 and Western Michigan's at 4:55.

Fourth Quarter – Western Michigan 41, Toledo 38

• Garcia's putback cut the deficit to 34-32 at the 6:47 mark.
• Western Michigan scored five-straight points to extend the lead to its biggest of the night at 39-32 with 3:00 left to play.
• Carruthers scored four-straight points to push Toledo within 39-36 with 1:40 to go. Fedd-Robinson would later drive for a layup to put the Rockets within 39-38 with 11.3 seconds to play.
• After a pair of made WMU free throws, Toledo had a possession to tie with 10.0 seconds left, but Carruthers' potential tying three missed at the buzzer.

Game Notes

• The Rockets out-rebounded the Broncos 40-30, the ninth-straight game in which Toledo has been better or even in rebounding margin than its opponent.
• Toledo's 20 points allowed in the first half was the fewest allowed in a conference game this season.
• Khera Goss eclipsed 4,000 minutes for her Toledo career, the sixth player to reach 4,000 in program history.

UP NEXT
Toledo returns home to Savage Arena on Saturday, Jan. 18 to take on Ohio. Tipoff will be at 2:00 p.m. and will air on ESPN+, with radio broadcasts on WCWA 1230 AM and The Varsity Network app. Saturday's game will also be the program's third-annual Justice for Sierah game.