December 12, 2010 - It took a few
half-time adjustments by Tricia Cullop, along with some inspired play by the
Rockets in the final 20 minutes of their game with Big-10 opponent Indiana, but
when the clock struck zero, the Midnight Blue and Gold had earned a hard-fought
56-52 win over the visiting Hoosiers.
It
was the City of Toledo’s first Snow Day of the season but that didn’t prevent
2,981 fans from filling the seats in Savage Arena to watch this key
out-of-conference matchup. Some may have wondered if the trek out to Bancroft
St. had been worth the effort as early-on, the Rockets shot themselves in both
feet with turnovers and errant shooting. For instance: Toledo had seven
turnovers, one point, and zero field goals before freshman Andola Dortch scored
on a layup at the 13:25 mark. That basket made the score 9-3 in favor of IU.
The Rockets scored the next four points on
a pair of layups from Naama Shafir and Dortch to cut the margin to 9-7 before a
6-0 mini Hoosier run gave the visitors some breathing room at 15-7.
Toledo was able to get within three
points, but then the “turnover/shooting monster” struck again allowing IU to
claim a 31-18 lead at the end of the period.
UT was 8-of-26 shooting over the first 20
minutes and just 1-of-8 from beyond the arc. The Rocket inside players were
having a dismal time in the paint making just 2-of-12 shots.
Toledo committed 14 turnovers for the half
and those miscues led to 11 IU points. Indiana did Toledo two better in the
turnover department with 16, but Toledo scored just four points off of their
opponent’s errors.
One of Cullops’ half-time adjustments was
going essentially to a four-corner offense which brought Indiana’s post players
out to the perimeter to guard the Toledo” bigs,” and the move opened the middle
up, allowing the Rocket guards to take the ball to the rim.
Indiana extended its lead to 14 points in
the opening minutes of the second-half but Toledo slowly began to cut into that
margin. The Hoosiers were up by 10 points when Jessica Williams cranked up a
trey at the 11:34 mark to make the score 37-30, and the Rocket motor slowly
began to rev up.
UT continued knocking on the door and when
Melissa Goodall dialed long distance with six minutes to play, the margin was
down to five points, 48-43. Just seconds later, an alert Lecretia Smith stole
the ball, feeding Courtney Ingersoll who dashed down the court for a layup.
Ingersoll was unable to convert the accompanying free throw, but the steal and
the basket gave the team the energy it was looking for to ultimately seal the
deal.
After a missed IU shot, Shafir drove to
the basket for a score and was fouled. She converted the free throw to pull the
Rockets even at 48.
With Toledo trailing by a point at the
4:17 mark Shafir went in for a layup, missing the shot. Goodall was flagged for
a personal foul on the rebound but, after a lengthy review of the tape, the
officials called a technical foul on Indiana’s Danilsa Andujar for a flagrant
elbow to Shafir’s jaw. After everyone shot their free throws, the score was
knotted again.
Goodall gave Toledo its first lead of the
contest when she split a pair of free throws, to make the score, 50-49. Big Red
then made it a three-point game, scoring on a jump shot with 2:30 left to play.
A Hoosier 3-point basket briefly knotted
the score again until four Toledo free throws put the game on ice. Goodall was
good as gold when she sank the final two free throws with four seconds
remaining.
After shooting just 30% in the first half,
the Rockets came out and shot 48% in the final period. Conversely, Indiana’s
first-half lead was forged on a 12-25 (48%) shooting effort, but after the
break, IU managed just six baskets (five three-pointers) in shooting a paltry
27%. Much of the Hoosier’s second-half shooting problems were the direct result
of some good old fashioned Toledo defense.
Toledo also cut down on the turnovers in
the second half. After those 14 early miscues the Rockets turned the ball over
just seven times in the final period. Indiana finished the afternoon with 29
turnovers.
The game’s leading scorer was Indiana
forward Aulani Sinclair who tallied 17 points, including five three-pointers.
Assisting Sinclair was guard Whitney Lindsay who finished with 11 points.
For Toledo it was lucky-number 13 for a
trio of starters Goodall, Williams, and Shafir who all garnered 13 points in the
victory. Goodall had a poor shooting game (3-10) but she was 5-6 from the
charity stripe and grabbed eight rebounds. Ingersoll also played a big part in
the win as she tallied eight points four rebounds and seven big steals.
“It feels good to beat them (Indiana),”
said Ingersoll. When a team like that comes in you have to
respect them. They're a Big-10 team but we weren't going to let them win on our
floor.”
“I was really proud of our team today,”
commented Tricia Cullop. ”We keep talking about defense and to force a team like
Indiana into 29 turnovers, I thought that was the key to the game.”
The Rockets (6-4) now get a break for
exams before preparing for another home game on Dec.19, this one against
UW-Milwaukee. The Panthers who are presently 3-6 on the season have gone up
against some big name schools such as Oklahoma, Minnesota, Bradley, Michigan
State, and Wisconsin.