After a layup gave the University of Toledo women’s basketball team the lead back midway through the third quarter, sophomore Tanaya Beacham raced down the court in an effort to track down an errant pass that sailed over her head.
Careful to keep her feet inbounds before her leap, Beacham extended toward the stands and saved the ball to a teammate on a play that eventually resulted in a Tatyana Davis layup.
It was one hustle play in a game full of them, but it came at a key time as the Rockets took control from that point on in a 65-52 win Sunday against Duquesne at Savage Arena.
“All hustle plays count,” Beacham said. “They all matter. They want to win just like we want to win, so we have to out-hustle them. They are a good team and they came in here with energy and we had to bring it to them first.”
The Rockets led by 11 points after one quarter of play, but the Dukes cut the halftime edge to three and eventually tied it at 38 with 3:44 left in the third.
VIDEO: UT head coach Tricia Cullop
But ignited by Beacham’s hustle play, Toledo closed the quarter on a 12-3 spurt that gave the Rockets breathing room again at 50-41. They extended the lead to as many as 15 in the fourth as the Rockets put the game away.
“We stuck together and we knew there would be ups and downs throughout the game,” UT junior guard Mariella Santucci said. “We fought through it and we tried to win the 50-50 balls and box out and do all the all the little details that made difference.”
Santucci led the way for Toledo (2-1) with 19 points, Kaayla McIntyre had 12 points, and Beacham added 10 off the bench.
“I thought Mariella Santucci was fantastic,” UT coach Tricia Cullop said. “She was a little floor general out there and when we needed a basket or free throws, she made it happen.”
Santucci was 8-of-8 from the free throw line, was 5-of-9 from the field, and had one of Toledo’s two 3-pointers in the game.
“I think we shared the ball a lot and always tried to find the right shot and we didn’t rush too much,” Santucci said. “We made them go through a lot of screens and that was a game plan.”
VIDEO: Santucci leads Toledo past Duquesne
Laia Sole scored 15 points to lead Duquesne (1-3), Amanda Kalin chipped in with 11 points, and Kadri-Ann Lass had 10.
With the victory, Toledo avenged a 73-54 loss at Duquesne last season.
“When we played them over there, not only were we impatient offensively, but we didn’t defend their sets very well,” Cullop said. “Today, our upperclassmen remembered a lot of that and what it felt like last year at Duquesne. I thought they really did a nice job.”
Toledo got a welcome boost with the debut of junior college transfer Nakiah Black, who scored five points in 15 minutes off the bench. She has been battling a shoulder injury to begin this season and a concussion that kept her out of the win Wednesday against Iona.
“Before all of her injuries, I would have pegged her as somebody who was a contestant for being a starter this year,” Cullop said. “To see her do what she did against a great team today was great, but we are going to see even more out of her in weeks to come.”
First Published November 18, 2018, 11:17 p.m.
