UT stomps BGSU

The University of Toledo women’s basketball team defeated the Bowling Green State University Falcons 75-61 on Saturday afternoon in Savage Arena.

This win marked the Rockets’ sixth in eight tries over the Falcons.

“This rivalry is special,” said Head Coach Tricia Cullop. “Nowhere else in the MAC [Mid-American Conference] are you going to see this many in the building for a women’s basketball game. Because of this rivalry, it’s a fun atmosphere and it’s always a great game.”

Junior Janice Monakana led the Rockets with a game high 21 points and 6 rebounds. Monakana shot 58 percent from the field, knocking down three shots from beyond the three-point line.

“She’s a great versatile player,” Cullop said. “She can drive to the hole and post up and can step out and shoot a three. Even though she plays in the post, she can guard a guard. Janice is probably one of my smarter players.

“She has an incredible IQ for basketball.”

Senior Brenae Harris also helped pace UT with 15 points and was an assist shy of a double-double. Other top scorers for UT were sophomore Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott with 14 points and senior Ana Capotoso with 11 points.

An emphasis for the Rocket defense this game was to stop BG’s three-point shooting after the Falcons made 11 three-pointers against Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. BG was held to 21.1 percent from the three point line, resulting in only four made baskets.

“They [Bowling Green] averaged about 9 threes a game,” Harris said. “Coach did talk about that before the game, something we had to take away. We did a great job of taking it away because we took away half of what they’re used to.”

Leading scorers for BG were senior Lauren Tibbs with 16 points and freshman Sydney Lambert with 13 points.

The game started out slowly for the Rockets as the Falcons raced out to an early 12-4 lead in the first quarter. BG hit five of its first nine shots to fuel the eight-point lead.

Cullop was forced to burn an early timeout to rally the troops. After the timeout, UT went on a 15-6 run to take the lead 19-18 at the end of the first quarter.

The Rockets ended the quarter with the last nine points and retained the lead for the remainder of the game.

UT kept rolling in the second quarter, going on a 11-3 run to make the score 30-21 with 5:53 left in the half. There was strong ball movement by the Rockets during the run as five different players scored.

The Falcons came back with a 10-4 stretch at the end of the quarter to cut the Rocket lead to 38-35 at the half. Lambert hit a pair of threes late to contribute to the run.

Toledo kept the intensity going in the second half with an 8-2 run to make the score 46-37 halfway through the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, UT extended its lead to double digits at 60-50 when Monakana hit a three-pointer and freshman Kaayla McIntyre put in a layup in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Toledo iced the game with back-to-back three-pointers by Bravo-Hariott and Monakana to make the score 70-56 with 5:14 left in the game.

BG would never cut the lead smaller than 12 points for the rest of the game.

UT will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 3 when they travel to Kalamazoo to take on the Western Michigan Broncos. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in University Arena and will be televised on ESPN3.

In the only previous meeting between the two teams this season, the Rockets came out on top Jan. 9 with an 80-73 victory in Savage Arena.