Women split wins against Buffalo and Northern Illinois

This past week, the University of Toledo women’s basketball team beat the University of Buffalo 73-64 on Wednesday and lost to Northern Illinois University 77-73 on Saturday. The two games bring the Rockets’ record to 12-4 on the season.

“Well, we feel good knowing that Buffalo hadn’t lost a game at home this season,” head coach Tricia Cullop said. “We also knew, coming into this game, they were going to be hungry. We have a lot of respect for this program and what they’ve done thus far this season, and we knew it was going to be a physical game.”

Second-year guard Mikaela Boyd led the Rockets in double figures with 19 points, followed by second-year center Kaayla McIntyre with 15. Boyd also pulled down a contest-best 10 rebounds to post her third career double-double.

As a team, Toledo shot a respectable 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field, including 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from beyond the arc, and 64.3 percent (18-of-24) from the free throw line.

UT dominated on the interior, outscoring Buffalo 40-24 in points in the paint. The Rockets also forced 19 turnovers and scored 16 points off of them.

“I really think the first quarter’s where we won the game,” Cullop said. “We couldn’t advance the lead, so I’m glad we had a good start to the game and I’m glad we kept our composure when they made their runs.”

The Rocket defense held the Bulls in check offensively, holding them to only 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor, including 20.0 percent (4-of-20) from three-point land.

Offensively, Toledo relied on seven points each from Woody and McIntyre to claim a 20-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Rocket duo combined to score the final eight points of the period to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.

The Bulls came out in the opening minutes of the second period and received a pair of layups from Smith to trim the margin to 23-16, forcing UT to call a timeout at the 6:41 mark.

UT settled down and traded baskets with UB over the next three-plus minutes to bring back momentum. The Rockets then ended the half with a 13-7 run, finishing the half with a 40-30 lead.

The Rockets blasted out of the break and benefited from three big baskets by first-year forward Sara Rokkanen to increase their lead to a game-high 17 points, 55-38, with 4:08 remaining in the third period. Rokkanen converted a jumper, a layup and a three-point field goal to give UT a 17-point cushion.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, they let Buffalo rattle off nine of the next 11 points to cut the margin to 10 points, 57-47, at the 7:40 mark in the fourth period.

McIntyre helped the Rockets answer with back-to-back field goals to make the score 63-48 with 4:08 left in regulation.

The Bulls pulled within nine points late, but UT sealed the victory by scoring its final 10 points at the charity stripe to secure the impressive 11-point road triumph.

Against NIU, fourth-year forward Janice Monakana paced the Rockets with season highs in points (21) and rebounds (11) to post her first double-double of the season and sixth in her collegiate career. The 2015-16 honorable mention All-MAC selection returned to the playing rotation after missing the last three games with a left shin injury.

As a team, UT shot 38.9 percent (28-of-72) from the field, including 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from three-point range, and 70.6 percent (12-of-17) from the free throw line.

Northern Illinois scored the game’s first seven points and led 21-13 at the end of the first period. The Rockets settled down nicely following the rough opening 10 minutes and actually outscored the Huskies in each of the final three quarters, but they dug themselves too big of an early hole to pull off the come-from-behind victory.

UT’s deficit grew to as many as 17 points, 39-22, in the second stanza before it went on a 12-0 run to make the score 40-36 with 9:35 remaining in the third. The Midnight Blue & Gold tallied the final nine points before intermission and the first three after the break to trim the margin to only four points. Monakana sparked the rally with seven points to bring the home team to its feet and forced Northern Illinois to burn an early timeout in the third quarter. The 2016-17 team captain converted a pair of layups and drilled a triple to swing the momentum into the Rockets’ favor.

UT continued to chip away at the deficit and utilized an 11-2 burst to come all the way back and knot the score at 64-64 with 7:54 left in regulation. Third-year guard Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott capped the rally with six points to tie the game

The squads then exchanged points over the next four-plus minutes until NIU’s Glenn converted an offensive putback at the 3:07 mark to give the visitors an advantage they would not give up.

The Rockets will be back in action against Ohio (12-4, 3-2 MAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The opening tip versus the Bobcats is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and will be streamed live on ESPN3.