UT WOMEN DOWN IONA ON KIDS DAY

It was the first annual Basketball Education Day on the Toledo campus and a throng of approximately 2,000 youngsters from area schools made their way into the John F. to account for about half of the 4,917 fans who turned out for the game.

Iona (4-2), a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) traveled to Toledo on the heels of a 78-73 Nov. 26 home win over Long Beach State and the Gaels were looking to avenge a 68-60 home loss to the Rockets on Nov. 28, 2010.

Whether UT was consciously aware of it or not, the team seemed to be suffering from a Naama hangover early on as the offense was out of sync, searching for its injured floor general to take command. The Rockets missed their first seven shots at the basket and didn't put any points up on the scoreboard until Haylie Linn buried a trey four minutes into the game.

Toledo wouldn't score again until the 13:24 mark when, trailing 10-3, Andola Dortch and Courtney Ingersoll both rang in from long distance to bring the Midnight Blue and Gold to within a point. The score remained close for the rest of the half which saw four ties. Junior center Kyle Baumgartner scored Toledo's final five points of the period on a three pointer and a long two-point jumper as time ran out to give Toledo a 24-22 lead going into the break.

Senior forward Kristina Ford paced all scorers in the opening stanza with 12 points, and Dortch had five points to lead Toledo. The Rocket lead could have been much greater save for being hampered by a 27.8 shooting percentage from the floor and the inability to convert a free throw in five trips to the line.

The second half became a struggle as Toledo fought to maintain its slim lead and Iona kept counter punching to stay close.. The score was tied at 37 when Baumgartner began to assert herself, forcing a steal that Ingersoll soon converted into a triple. With the score tied a final time at 42, Baumgartner began a 12-0 Toledo run, in which she tallied six points, to finish out the scoring in the contest. Iona was shut out on the scoreboard for the final 5:51 of the period.

Baumgartner came off the bench to play her strongest game as a Rocket, leading the team with 15 points and nine rebounds. Ingersoll and Dortch also stepped up big for the winners: Ingersoll tallied 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range, while Dortch had 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists. Junior forward Lecretia Smith nabbed seven rebounds in a reserve role.

As a team, Toledo out rebounded the taller Gaels 52-42, grabbing 23 offensive boards that may have been the difference in the game. Time and time again, UT had second and third chances at the basket as Iona was forced to play long stretches of defense that seemed to tire the visitors as the game wore down.

The Rockets did an excellent job of protecting the ball, committing just nine turnovers despite the fact that Iona employed a full court press for much of the game.

One area of Toledo's performance that needs to improve very quickly is free-throw shooting. For the game the team converted just four-of-13 offerings for 30.8% and this could spell trouble as the season progresses.

Ford finished the game with 18 points to lead all scorers, however, she was the only Gael to reach double figures.

With the win Toledo improves to 4-2 on the season and the team must now prepare for a Sunday afternoon game against Colorado State.