ROCKETS TOPPLE FALCONS IN THRILLER

January 30, 2010 - In what can only be described as an electrifying atmosphere, the host Toledo Rockets came from behind to defeat the Bowling Green Falcons, 66-63 at Savage Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Playing in front of largest crowd ever to watch a women’s basketball game at a MAC on-campus site - 5,825 fans - the Rockets made up an eight-point deficit with six-minutes left in the contest, to claim their first victory over the Wood County school, after 12 consecutive losses.

“It’s nice to put this to rest. It’s been a monkey on our back for a long time,” is how winning head coach Tricia Cullop began her post-game interview. “Since I took this job and first stood in front of the microphone in front of you, all I've heard about is this game, and last year I got a taste of it down at their place just how crazy that rivalry can be.”

Crazy? It was just that in Savage Arena on Saturday afternoon. The place began to fill up immediately after the doors first opened and a good share of those folks passing through the turnstiles were wearing orange and brown in support of the Falcons. But make no mistake about it, this was a Toledo gathering.

Early on it was apparent that both teams brought their A-Games as there were three ties and six lead changes before freshman Yolanda Richardson gave Toledo a little breathing room with a pair of charity tosses and a layup for a brief 21-17 lead.

Playing from behind at this point however, seemed to anger the Falcons as they immediately went on an 11-0 run to go up, 28-21. A 6-0 Toledo run brought the Midnight Blue and Gold back to within a point, but Bowling Green hasn't won all of those recent MAC champions using smoke and mirrors, and the visitors had it back up to 39-30 with 1:37 to play in the half. The Rockets fought back to make it a 41-35 game at intermission.

As is their custom in most of their games, BeeGee had the half-time edge in 3-pointers and free throws, going 6-of-13 from beyond the arc and 9-of-13 at the charity stripe. Toledo was 2-of-6 from long distance and 5-of-8 from the line.

Junior Lauren Prochaska led the Falcons in scoring after 20 minutes with 11 points, while Tanika Mays had nine points for the Rockets.

Like a pair of prizefighters, the teams went at each other at the beginning of the second half, punch for punch, and it was dead even at 50 with 9:58 left in the game. Bowling Green, looking every bit the part of a conference champ, then went on a 7-0 run that might have signaled an end for Toledo’s hopes. But this season the Rockets are showing that they have what it takes to return to the top of the MAC standings and sucked it up for their own late game heroics.

Following a 3-pointer from Falcon point guard, Tracy Pontius, the home team “got it on” as folks now say, ripping off 14 points in the final six minutes of play while surrendering just three points at crunch time, a Prochaska triple.

Mays got the party started with a pair of free throws. Then Melissa Goodall scored five consecutive points on a pair of layups and a free throw to bring Toledo to within a point, 60-59 with 4:15 to play. Jessica Williams added her three cents when she drained a big 3-pointer to give UT its second lead of the period, 62-60.

Prochaska then got her triple to give the visitors their last lead at 3:37. No one would have thought it at the time but Bowling Green was dead in the water for the remainder of the game, misfiring on three shots and committing two crucial turnovers. Toledo also had several misses and a couple of turnovers but managed to play over their errors.

As Bowling Green was self-destructing, Naama Shafir and Goodall scored on a pair of layups to put the game on ice. Shafir‘s basket came after a beautiful spin move against Pontius. Goodall, who played as if she might have been possessed in the second half also had a big steal out on the perimeter and a key defensive rebound following a Prochaska miss as the clock was winding down.

After the final buzzer sounded, the Rockets were surrounded by members to the Toledo football team at mid court, and the celebrating began.

Prochaska led the Falcons in scoring with 17 points, but garnered just six markers on three shots after intermission. Jen Uhl was the only other Falcon to hit double figures with 12 points. Mays led all scorers with 20 points in 34 minutes of playing time. Goodall stepped up big  to record a double-double, 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Shafir added 11 points.

The Rockets held Bowling Green to just 29.6 percent shooting (8-of-27) in the second half and out rebounded them for the game, 43-35.

UT also owned the paint outscoring the Falcons 38-16, as well as leading in points-off-turnovers: 25-13.

Also of note: missing out on their bread-and-butter, Bowling Green managed to get to the free throw line just four times in the second half.

This was a big win for Toledo (17-4, 7-1 MAC) in that the losing streak against its arch-rival has finally been snapped, but, more importantly, it’s the third win against an East Division opponent and its another stepping stone toward “THE” goal, the MAC West title.