Toledo picks up win in OT

Rachel Nearhoof / IC

Rachel Nearhoof / IC Redshirt freshman Milaela Boyd keeps her focus on defense in Toledo’s 58-46 loss to Eastern Michigan. Boyd played 24 minutes for the Rockets while shooting .571 percent from the field. Toledo will play at Savage on March 2 against CMU at 7 p.m.

UT women’s basketball team was defeated by Eastern Michigan 58-46 on Wednesday at Savage Arena but bounced back with an 89-83 victory against Northern Illinois in overtime.

The Rockets are now 16-11 and 11-5 in Mid-American Conference play. With one more win or a loss by Eastern Michigan or Akron, Toledo can clinch a first round bye in the conference tournament.

Toledo struggled offensively against the Eagles shooting only 37 percent from the field including 27 percent from the three-point line. UT shot themselves in the foot with 21 turnovers that led to 22 EMU points.

Leading the Rockets in the loss was redshirt freshman Mikaela Boyd’s with nine points and two steals. Also contributing was Sophomore Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott with eight points, four dimes while grabbing three steals. Freshman Kaayla McIntyre finished eight points and team-high 7 boards.

Pacing EMU was Cha Sweeney with 18 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Janay Morton and Phillis Webb pitched in with 14 and 8 points respectively for the Eagles.

Junior Sophie Reecher made a layup to make it 5-4, which sparked a 9-0 Eagles run over the next eight minutes.

The run was broken by Bravo-Harriott on a fast break layup off of an assist from senior Brenae Harris. Toledo found themselves trailing 18-6 after one quarter of play.

Eastern Michigan would stretch their lead in the second quarter to as much as 17 at one point and took a 37-22 lead into halftime.

McIntyre scored the first bucket of the second half for UT but the Rockets just could not keep up with the Eagles. Following a jumper from Morton the Eagles doubled UT’s score 50-25 mid way through the third quarter.

Nothing was falling for Toledo as they only managed five points in the third quarter.

After the loss, Toledo bounced back beating NIU in overtime on Saturday thanks to two Monakana free throws with under ten seconds remaining.

Cassidy Glenn made a layup to give the Huskies a 80-78 lead in overtime with 3:21 left. McIntyre got the Rockets back on top with a layup to give Toledo an 82-81 lead with just over a minute to play.

Harris then stepped to the free throw line and knocked down both from the stripe giving UT a four-point advantage with 48 seconds remaining.

NIU had a chance with the ball down by three with 14 seconds remaining but a turnover by Ally Lehman put the ball back in the hands of the Rockets. Monakana put the team up five at the charity stripe to seal the deal.

Harris led the way for the Rockets scoring 21 points grabbing five rebounds and recording five assists. Joining her in double-figures were Monakana with 20 points and Bravo-Harriott with 18 points, seven rebound and six dimes.

Also contributing for Toledo was McIntyre with 14 points and senior Ana Capotosto with nine points and five assists.

Leading NIU was Lehman’s 18 points and assertive 16 rebounds. Glenn recorded 17 points and nine rebounds and Courtney Woods tallied 12 points and 9 boards.

UT scored the first four points of the game with a Bravo-Harriott jumper and steal that resulted in a Harris layup

From that point the teams traded buckets with neither team leading by more than four points in a game that featured 10 ties.

A Harris layup and triple by sophomore Jada Woody put the Rockets up 31-25 with just over six minutes remaining in the opening half. NIU battled back to tie the game at 36-36 at halftime in thanks to a Glenn three pointer at the buzzer.

Toledo was focused coming out the locker room, scoring the first six points of the half. Harris converted an and-1 after being fouled to put UT ahead 47-38 with 7:41 remaining in the third.

The Huskies battled back in the final ten minutes of play going on a 14-2 run and taking a 70-69 lead after two straight triples from Mikayla Voigt.

Harris put the Rockets back on top 76-74 with a shot in the lane with 25 ticks left in regulation. Lehman then tied the game at 76-76 with a jumper with 9 seconds left in the game.

The Midnight Blue and Gold return to Savage Arena Wednesday, March 2 to take on Central Michigan. The game can be seen on ESPN 3.