SECOND HALF SURGE POWERS TOLEDO PAST ALBANY

November 22, 2011 - On a rainy evening when the shots wouldn't fall, the Toledo Rockets once again turned on the defensive pressure to claim a 53-39 win over the University of Albany. The visiting Great Danes, representing the America East Conference, entered the game with Toledo, averaging 63.2 points a contest, but the stingy Rockets weren't going let UA sniff their average, not in Savage Arena.

Except for one brief 11-11 tie, UT led from the opening tip until the final buzzer, but didn't salt the win away until a 14-5 point surge in the final six minutes decided the issue.

The Rockets broke out to a quick 4-0 lead to open the contest, but a number of missed shots allowed the Danes to hang around until they knotted the score at 11 with 1:37 to play in the period. UT quickly regained the upper hand, leading by as many as eight points, but some timely shooting by the visitors made it a 24-21 game until Courtney Ingersoll closed out the first-half scoring with a triple to make the margin 27-21.

Senior guard Cassandra Callaway, who averages 9.0 points a contest, was having her way with Toledo in the first 20 minutes leading all scorers with 14 points. But while Callaway was having some early success, Albany's two best point producers, junior forward Julie Forster (16.8) and junior guard Ebony Henry (16.3), were shut out from the floor in the opening stanza.

Naama Shafir opened the scoring in the second half with a pair of free throws but then the Rockets got stuck on 29 points for the next three and a half minutes. However, even though the shots weren't falling for Toledo, the Rocket defenders continued to hound the Danes, not allowing them any kind of shots at the basket and forcing the visitors into several shot clock violations.

It took Andola Dortch to jump start the UT offense with a scoop layup that was soon followed by a drive from Haylie Linn to give the home team a little breathing room at 33-24.

Following a media timeout at the 14:02 mark, Albany took aim at Toledo's lead and cut the score to 33-30, but that would be the high-point of the second half for them. A layup and a pair of free throws from Shafir followed by a Yolanda Richardson put back of a Shafir miss gave UT a 39-30 cushion.

Junior Kyle Baumgartner converted a pair of free throws to give the Rockets their first double-digit lead, and her performance at the charity stripe was soon equaled by Shafir and Dortch which gave UT a 13-point 49-36 bulge with 2:24 to play.

Toledo had its largest lead, 53-36, after Dortch scored on a layup with just over a minute to play, then Albany's Forster closed out the scoring with a jump shot and a free throw.

Callaway led all scorers with 18 points but Toledo allowed her to score just four points in the second half. Callaway also committed 10 turnovers on the evening.

Forster was held to just four points in the contest; her only field goal came with just seconds remaining and the game well in hand. Albany's other big gun, Henry, finished with nine points on 3-of-17 from the floor after being shut out in the first half.

Shafir had 14 points to lead Toledo, followed by her back-court partner, Dortch, who finished with 10 points .Ingersoll and Richardson each tallied eight points in the winning effort.

Kyle Baumgartner had her most productive performance as a Rocket with six points and five rebounds in 16 minutes of playing time.

Toledo forced Albany into committing 25 turnovers in the game and scored 20 points off of those miscues. The Rockets also owned the post, outscoring Albany 30-16 in the paint.

“I'm really proud of our defense,” said Tricia Cullop following the game. “We forced 25 turnovers and held both Forster and Henry at bay throughout the game. Callaway had a great first half but we held her to four points the rest of the game. Our players did a great job of paying attention to Coach Griggs' scouting report because we were able to take away some of the things they like to do offensively.”

A total of 3,323 fans came out in a downpour to support the Midnight Blue and Gold and watch the team get it's second victory against one defeat.

Toledo now gears up for a Friday road contest against Indiana University. The Hoosiers are 2-2 on the season having lost a 77-72 road contest to the Miami Redhawks on Tuesday.