ROCKETS REACH FINAL FOUR

March 27, 2011 - Toledo overcame a poor first half of shooting to grab a 71-68 overtime victory over Big East member Syracuse and qualify for the WNIT final four.

The Orange came into the contest with a 25-9 record and some impressive wins including Ohio State, Marquette and Louisville.

The raucous crowd of 5,001 gave the Rockets all of the encouragement they could muster, but it wasn't until the 10:07 mark of the first half that UT was able to drain its first outside shot. At that point the Rockets trailed 14-9. But Syracuse was able to go inside with big 6-4 Kayla Alexander and 6-3 Shakeya Leary to stretch the lead to 12 points at the intermission, 38-26.

Toledo finished the first half shooting 32.1% from the field, while Syracuse had a hot 54.2%. The Orange, who were very physical and had good quickness, also had an 18-13 rebounding edge.

The Rockets began to chip away at the lead, and a 3-pointer by Haylie Linn at the 16:51 mark narrowed the lead to five points, 43-38. UT continued to get balanced scoring against the Orange, and finally, with just over six minutes remaining in the game, a Melissa Goodall lay-up tied the score at 55.

A free throw by Andola Dortch gave the Rockets the lead 59-58 with 3:34 remaining.

Yolanda Richardson's spinning lay-up and subsequent free throw put Toledo in the lead, 62-60, with less that two minutes remaining in the contest. Syracuse tied the game on a jump shot by Elashier Hall with 46 ticks left on the game clock.

Toledo had the ball and a chance to go ahead, but Dortch wasn't able to get good separation from her defender, and put up an off-balance shot which Syracuse rebounded. A short jumper by forward Carmen Tyson-Thomas was no good as time expired, and the game went into a five minute overtime period.

Naama Shafir opened the overtime scoring with a free throw, but the Orange came back with two charity tosses as Linn fouled out at the 4 minute mark.

Dortch nailed a long 3-pointer to put Toledo up 66-64, but two baskets in the paint by the 6-4 Alexander left Toledo down by two.

As the crowd noise raised to a roar, Dortch was fouled and made one of two free throws. Yolanda Richardson grabbed a Syracuse miss and turned it into a lay-up at the other end. With the Orange trying to regain the lead, Dortch had a big steal, but Syracuse stole the ball back. Tyson-Thomas missed a jump shot, Syracuse got the rebound and then committed a turnover.

Toledo had the ball and a one point lead with seven seconds remaining. The Rockets were having trouble inbouding the ball against the Syracuse press when Tyson-Thomas fouled Shafir before the ball ever got inbounds. Shafir calmly sank both free throws to give Toledo a three point lead, 71-68. A desperation 3-pointer by Syracuse was off the mark and UT was headed to the WNIT final four.

"The total team effort that we had today just makes me smile and feel so honored to coach this team, because their heart and desire was so outstanding today," said head coach Tricia Cullop. "Syracuse is a tremendous basketball team, and they've been averaging about plus fifteen in rebound differential. They've got size and athleticism, and our kids had to play with tremendous courage going for boards. That's the only way to describe it because of how physical it was."

The Rockets' 27th win ties them for the most wins ever with the 1996-97 team.

Toledo finished the game shooting 40% from the field to 42.1% for Syracuse. The Orange also had a 44-34 rebounding advantage. UT had three more 3-pointers made and also two more charity tosses than the visitors.

Shafir led Toledo with 22 points and also grabbed nine boards. Richardson was the only other scorer in double digits, with 13.

The Rockets will host Charlotte at 7PM this Wednesday in the final four game. Charlotte defeated Virginia in their elite eight contest.