Women win 66-35 over Ferris State in exhibition game

A lot of new faces took the court Saturday in the University of Toledo women’s basketball team’s 66-35 victory over Ferris State.

It wasn’t a perfect outing for the new Rockets – and a victory in an exhibition game won’t mean anything at the end of the year – but fans saw a lot out of the fresh-faced squad to be excited about.

“I didn’t expect to have a perfect game today,” said Rockets’ head coach Tricia Cullop. “I told the players that before the game started. We have a lot of new people and they’re going to be a little nervous when they try to work hard to impress our awesome crowd.”

Five freshmen saw collegiate action for the first time Saturday, and Junior transfer Brenae Harris saw her first time as a Rocket.

Harris actually started the scoring off for Toledo with a wide-open three-pointer at the top of the key. The point guard was efficient for the Rockets, shooting four-of-four from the field and two-for-two beyond the arch in just 18 minutes of play. The junior wasn’t afraid of the spotlight, beating a defender and going behind the back for a smooth layup late in the second half.

Also for the Rockets, freshman small forward Michaela Rasmussen started and led all scorers with 11 points and six rebounds.

“She’s just pretty poised as a freshman and seems to have a quicker grasp at this part of the season in what we’re trying to do,” Cullop said of Rasmussen.

Ferris State came out playing a 2-3 zone, which they would stay in for majority of the game, causing 29 turnovers but only finishing with ten points to show for the effort.

“We haven’t spent much time on our zone offense,” Cullop said. “We’ve seen maybe one or two possessions of man, so a part of that is on (the coaching staff) but most of the teams we play this year will be playing us man to man.”

UT’s defense was the key to victory, holding the Bulldogs to just 21 percent shooting from the field and 10 percent shooting from three-point land.

Mid-American Conference pre-season player of the year candidate Inma Zanoguera showed just why she deserved consideration for the honor. The senior captain had seven assists and eleven rebounds to go with six points.

On defense, Zanogurea was a nightmare for the opposition, grabbing three steals and forcing several Bulldog turnovers.

The Rockets bench finished with its fair share of production, combining for 25 points against Ferris State.

“I like the fact that we can sub when we need to. Last year I had to call time outs, we have a lot more weapons at our disposal this year,” Cullop said. “We are very excited about our future.”

The Rockets used the most out of their exhibition game, playing all 11 dressed players with each seeing over ten minutes of game play.

UT will kick off their regular season next Friday when they travel to Cleveland State.