During her postgame comments on Saturday following Toledo’s win over Akron, Rockets coach Tricia Cullop mentioned the depth of the Mid-American Conference and her fears about the now-healthy Miami RedHawks.
When Miami made its first two shots to take a quick 4-0 lead Wednesday in a sparsely-filled Savage Arena, Cullop’s concerns seemed like a prescient warning.
Then the RedHawks went 1 for their next 15, Toledo took a 25-point lead into the half, and the Rockets cruised to an 82-63 victory.
“I was happy to see the defensive intensity that we had,” Cullop said.
Miami shot 35.8 percent for the game — aided by a 14 of 26 effort in the second half — and had streaks of nine, seven, and six consecutive missed shots. It’s the 11th time this season that Toledo has held an opponent under 40 percent shooting.
The RedHawks (7-13, 2-5) had a scoring drought that approached six minutes, another that was almost five minutes long, and one that surpassed four minutes. They were 3 of 16 in the first quarter and 2 of 11 in the second quarter.
“I’m a defensive player, so that really kickstarts my offense altogether,” Toledo guard Khera Goss said. “But team-wise, it really gets us going. It’s a grittiness type of thing. We don’t have to rely on our offense if it’s not working. It’s OK because we’re going to get steals and stops and push it in transition, which is something that we’re really good at.”
The Rockets (14-4, 5-2) scored 23 points off 12 Miami turnovers, essentially equating to scoring off of every turnover.
In the first half, Miami had more fouls (eight) and turnovers (seven) than field goals (five). Toledo’s four first-half 3s nearly surpassed the RedHawks’ total baskets.
Toledo outscored Miami 25-7 in the second quarter, and ended the first half on a 22-2 run.
Jayda Jansen was plus-28 in just 15 minutes during the first half.
“Our post players continue to deny better than what we saw [at Bowling Green],” Cullop said. “I’m really proud of how hard they’re working. When they work as hard as they do, our team benefits from that. When they aren't giving us that, it’s a little harder night for us.”
During a 29-second spurt in the third quarter, Jessica Cook made a basket, Sophia Wiard had a steal, Quinesha Lockett made a layup, Goss had a steal, and then she made a layup.
UT led by 38 in the third quarter.
“It was amazing, honestly, hearing the crowd go crazy,” Goss said about the basket-turnover-basket-turnover-basket sequence. “We just knew that we needed to keep our foot on the pedal and continue to dominate.”
Lockett continued her torrid stretch with a team-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and she didn’t score in the fourth quarter. She’s averaging 19.6 points over the past six games, with five 20-point outputs.
“My 3s are falling now,” Lockett said. “At the beginning of the season, they weren’t really falling. I feel like I’m getting more confident with my 3, and it’s really helping with my scoring. It’s making them have to come out on me instead of knowing that I’m going to drive every time.”
Lockett is now sixth on Toledo’s all-time scoring list, passing Kelly Savage and Kim Sekulski on Wednesday.
“Those two names are pretty powerful in our history,” Cullop said. “It’s pretty awesome to know that she’s doing all of this within that four-year frame as opposed to the bonus year that we see people benefit from. She’s got a ways to go to catch up with Naama Shafir, but still, that’s pretty good company.”
Goss (two steals) and Jessica Cook (five rebounds) each had 12 points.
Toledo scored 44 points in the paint, and had 20 bench points.
Miami’s Ivy Wolf had a game-high 29 points, 13 of which came at the free-throw line.
“I thought our defense was awesome in the first half,” Cullop said. “It felt awesome to hold them to 17 points when they have three kids that are very capable of having a 30 points night, and one of them almost did.”
First Published January 26, 2023, 2:17 a.m.
