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January 25, 2012 – Toledo spotted the Miami Redhawks a game-opening 11-0 lead in the first five minutes of the contest before finally settling in to thump the visitors, 79-66, thanks some blistering Savage Arena shooting in the second half.

Miami (15-5, 5-2 MAC) brought a potent offense into Savage Arena for this big inter-divisional match, and the Redhawks were anxious to test the stingy Toledo defense with their prowess. In its six previous conference games, MU had been on a tear, averaging 74.5 points a contest, with four players scoring in double digits. Chief among the Miami point producers was junior guard Courtney Osborn who was ringing the bell to the tune of 23.2 points in MAC games Complimenting Osborn's outside game was junior forward Kristen Olowinski who was averaging a double-double 12.3 points and 12.7 rebounds. Senior guard Maggie Boyer (13.1) and sophomore Hannah Robertson (11.1) were also lending their expertise to Miami's offense.

Toledo (12-7, 5-2 MAC) entered the game with Miami tied with Eastern Michigan for first place in the West Division, and a win over the visiting Redhawks would vault the Rockets into a tie with the Oxford, OH school for the second best conference record, behind current leader Bowling Green (6-0). A win by Eastern Michigan against Buffalo on Wednesday, coupled with a win by Toledo would create a three-team log jam in the battle for the No.1 or No.2 slots.

The won-loss record is extremely important this season because of the new MAC Tournament seeding system in place for the first time. In the past the leaders of each division would receive automatic byes, now its the teams with the two best won-loss records, regardless of division, who would get the coveted byes for the first two tournament games.

The game began with Boyer dropping in a pair of three-point shots as Miami opened the contest scoring 11 quick points. Toledo's Courtney Ingersoll finally hit a triple at 15:11 of the first half, much to the delight of the 3,825 fans who customarily remain standing from the opening tip until the Rockets get on the scoreboard. Despite getting some great looks at the basket, UT couldn't buy a bucket in the first five minutes, either in the paint or from the perimeter.

Treys from Haylie Linn and Ingersoll midway through the half brought Toledo to within three points, 16-13, but a traditional three-point play by Olowinski coupled with another long distance bomb from Boyer soon had Miami back up by nine points, 22-13. At this point, the Rockets decided that they probably had had enough of this abuse on their own floor and they began to close the gap with intermission approaching. Toledo didn't quite get there, but a layup by Andola Dortch in the final minute of the half pulled the Midnight Blue and Gold to within a point, 29-28, at the break.

Boyer proved to be the big headache for Toledo in the first half with 14 points. The lanky senior was a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc. Ingersoll had eight points for Toledo. Dortch, Ingersoll, and Janelle Reed Lewis took turns guarding Osborn, holding her to seven points before the break.

After missing their first eight shots, the Rockets turned things around as the first half progressed and finished shooting 12-of-30 for a respectable 40.0%. Toledo was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, but this would be nothing compared to the barrage that would be unleashed against Miami in the final period.

Boyer opened up the second half by converting a pair of charity tosses for Miami before Dortch took matters into her own hands, scoring Toledo's next seven points and giving the home team it's first lead of the contest, 35-31. Then things just began to happen.

UT had a 44-39 lead eight minutes into the half when Linn hit back-to-back threes to ignite a 13-0 run, and suddenly it was 57-39 game. Five minutes later Yolanda Richardson extended the lead to 20 points, 68-48, when she scored on a layup..

Miami threw a stifling trapping-press at the Rockets in the final four minutes that caused a few turnovers but Toledo held its composure to claim its fifth win in the conference.

Boyer finished as the high scorer for Miami but she was held to six points in the final 20 minutes after going off for 14 in the first half. Osborn had 17 points but she was well off her game, connecting on just 4-of 13 attempts with Rocket defenders wearing her like a glove.. Olowinski had 10 points and seven rebounds in the loss, both below her average.

Dortch and Linn were certainly the catalysts, but all of Tricia Cullop's Rockets who saw action can take some credit for the victory. Dortch finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 3-of 5 from long distance. She also tied her career-high with nine assists and grabbed five rebounds in 33 minutes of action. Commenting on Toledo's slow start Dortch said, “We knew what we had to do to get ourselves back into the game and that's exactly what we did. We executed and played defense the way we normally play.”

Linn had 15 points in the game, with a 5-of-7 performance from beyond the arc. She also had a career-high eight assists. In talking about Toledo's slow start, the senior said, ”We just weren't on top of it, especially defensively, and we let their shooters get open shots. I know I did and I'm not happy about that myself at all. And offensively we were getting good looks, but we were just cold. We don't like to start out like we did. We don't want to look up at the scoreboard and see that we're down by 13 points in the first five minutes.”

Also finishing strong for Toledo were Richardson, Ingersoll, and Reed-Lewis. Richardson, who has been playing so very well recently, tallied 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and three blocks. The big junior is now just two blocks away from tying Karin Hoogendam's career record for blocks. The former Rocket finished her time at Toledo with 138 rejections.

Ingersoll had eight points and Reed Lewis had six points in spelling Dortch at the point.

Toledo was 20-of-29 shooting in the second half for 69.0% and finished the contest at 54.2%,. UT was really on fire from beyond the arc where the team shot 11-of-20 for 55.0%. And in the second half alone, the Rocket sharpshooters were 7-of-11 from downtown. Prior to Wednesday's game, Toledo was dead last in the conference in 3-point shooting accuracy for MAC games, connecting on just 31-of-111 for 27.9%.

“We picked the right night to come out of a shooting slump,” said Tricia Cullop “because Miami is a good well-coached team. They've got prolific scorers and their second-best shooter from the perimeter (Maggie Boyer) was Miss Basketball in Indiana. She put up a lot of points and was hot at the very beginning of the game. Osborn is their big player and to continue to pick her up full court and wear her down was a big key.

Janelle Reed-Lewis was a big spark off the bench for us. She gave us a big defensive effort, and to add her offense was just the icing on the cake.”

Toledo went the entire Ohio game on Saturday, and the first half of the Miami game without attempting a free throw. When asked to comment about it, Cullop said, “The way we're shooting, that might be a good thing.” The Rockets were just 4-of-9 from the line against Miami.

Toledo, Miami, and, Eastern Michigan (with Wednesday's win over Buffalo) are now all tied at 5-2 in the conference, and these three teams are now the front runners, along with Bowling Green, for the top two seeds come tournament time.

Next up for the Rockets: a Saturday afternoon game at East Division Buffalo.