Rockets Take Down Chippewas

Rachel Nearhoof /IC

Jackson Rogers, Associate Sports Editor

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This Saturday, the University of Toledo women’s basketball team defeated Central Michigan University by a score of 74-72 in the annual Rocket for the Cure Game. The win increases the Rockets’ record to 13-6 overall and 4-4 in Mid-American Conference play.

“Words can’t describe how proud of my team I am,” head coach Tricia Cullop said in an interview with UTRockets. “It has not been easy the last two weeks to deal with the adversity and the things we’ve had to deal with. But I think what says so much about you is how you handle those situations. Our players handled it with class and maturity and perseverance. To pull this one out, against who is maybe the best team right now on paper in our league, felt better than anything.”

Fourth-year forward Janice Monakana led the Rocket offense with 18 points and six rebounds. Other notable scorers were second-year center Kaayla McIntyre with 15, third-year guard Jay Bravo-Harriot with 13 and second-year guard Halee Printz with 12 points.

UT shot 28-of-67 from the field (41.8%) and 8-of-20 (40.0%) from the three-point line to defeat the defending MAC West champions. Toledo slightly out-rebounded CMU, edging the Chippewas 40-38.

The Rocket defense came to play, limiting Central Michigan to 72 points and limiting the MAC’s leading scorer, Presley Hudson, to nine points on 2-of-10 shooting.

To start the game, McIntyre scored the first six points for the Rockets, jumping them out to a 12-4 lead at the 5:29 mark. The second-year tallied a pair of layups and a jumper to give UT the early lead.
McIntyre kept shooting the basketball and knocked down two more shots to create a 19-14 lead with 8:43 remaining in the opening half. McIntyre was strong in the post, draining five of her first six shots from the floor to make it a five-point difference.
Monakana converted on back-to-back layups to increase UT’s advantage to 28-23 at the 5:26 mark in the second quarter.
Despite Toledo’s fast start, Central Michigan stayed close, scoring 13 points in the first half to put the visitors ahead for the first time, 32-31, at the 2:15 mark.

UT closed out the half from another layup by Monakana and a second triple from Printz to give the Rockets a 36-32 advantage at the intermission.
The Chippewas scored the first points of the third quarter, cutting the Rockets’ lead to one, but Toledo answered with a mini 9-3 run to open up a 47-40 lead at the 5:23 mark. Printz knocked down her season-high third three to open the run, while Monakana was credited for the other six points.
“Halee has probably, up until last game, seen limited time during a long stretch,” Cullop said. “She really earned more [minutes] because she didn’t keep her head down, she kept persevering through it.”

Central Michigan ended the quarter on a 17-5 burst to create a 57-52 lead.

The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with a 12-2 run to reclaim the lead, 64-59, at the 7:04 mark. Printz knocked down her career-high fourth three to ignite the rally, before Bravo-Harriott splashed a three of her own and converted a layup.
“I had a bit of space,” Bravo-Harriott said in an interview with UTRockets. “I was struggling at the start, but I hit my last one and that kind of built confidence in me. When it went down, that’s when my whole confidence level rose.”

After the timeout, Central Michigan scored nine of the next 11 points to push the lead back in its favor, 68-66, with 3:10 left in the fourth period. The Chippewas scored all of their points at the charity stripe over the course of the next three minutes.
CMU was held without a field goal in the fourth quarter, as the visiting team missed all nine of their shots from the field.
The Rockets will be back on the court on Feb. 1 when they host 2016 MAC Tournament Champion University at Buffalo (15-5, 5-4 MAC). The opening tip versus the Bulls is slated for 7:00 p.m. in Savage Arena and will be streamed lived on ESPN3.

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Rockets Take Down Chippewas