PULLMAN, Wash. — It might not have been the NCAA tournament, but Thursday night had plenty of back-and-forth tournament tension for the University of Toledo women’s basketball team.
Facing off against top seed Washington State in the quarterfinals of the inaugural WBIT, the second-seeded Rockets lost 63-61 on a game-winner by Bella Murekatete in the closing seconds. Toledo led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but saw its lead and the game slip away in the final moments.
4th, 0:03 | BELLA WITH THE DAGGER!
— WSU Cougar Women's ???? (@WSUCougarWBB) March 29, 2024
63-61 COUGS!#GoCougs | #CougsVsEverybody pic.twitter.com/2kZ0zMis8o
Coming out of a timeout with four seconds left, Murekatete made a free throw line jumper to put Washington State ahead by two.
Toledo called a timeout of its own to advance the basketball, and, with three seconds left, the inbounds pass went to Rockets senior Quinesha Lockett. She drove into the paint for a contested layup, but it did not fall and time expired.
“Just a little softer touch, and it would have went in, and we would’ve been smiling now instead of crying,” Lockett said, having just wrapped up her final collegiate game. “But things happen.”
It was a game in which the Rockets had plenty of opportunities, leading for much of the second half.
Toledo led for less than three minutes through the first half, but it entered the second half with a 34-30 lead. The Rockets grew that margin quickly, opening the half on a 6-0 run that forced Washington State coach Kamie Etheridge to call a timeout just a minute and 21 seconds into the third quarter.
Toledo held off several Cougars comeback attempts throughout the third, powered by senior forward Sammi Mikonowicz, who scored 12 of her team-high 18 points on 5-for-5 shooting during that stretch.
Mikonowicz capped her monster quarter with a 3-pointer to take the lead back from the Cougars.
Her offensive performance was a bright spot in an otherwise frigid quarter for Toledo as the rest of the team scored only five points. After a first half in which they had only three turnovers, the Rockets lost five in the third quarter alone.
“They were very active in the passing lanes, and when we drove they had very active hands,” Toledo coach Tricia Cullop said. “We tried to drive into gaps where maybe something wasn’t there.”
Toledo led the majority of the fourth quarter — all but the final three seconds.
Washington State tied it up at 61 with under a minute left, and Toledo’s ensuing possession ended with a turnover to set up the closing sequence.
Less than a minute into the game, the tone had already been set: neither team was going down without a fight.
Cougars freshman guard Eleonora Villa kicked the scoring off early, hitting a 3-pointer just seconds after her side won the tip. Lockett responded seconds later with a 3-pointer of her own.
The score through one quarter was 16-14 in favor of Washington State. Lockett had five of her 12 points in that quarter, but her team had not led for even a second. She changed that early in the next quarter, drawing a foul on a layup and hitting her free throw for a 21-20 UT lead.
The Rockets (28-6) pulled ahead two more times before halftime, holding it the second time and entering the break up four. The Cougars (21-14) had eight turnovers in the first half, which Toledo turned into 10 points.
While Mikonowicz stepped up in the second half, production from other parts of the UT roster wasn’t as robust. Mikonowicz aside, UT’s other four starters scored only five points combined in the second half.
Mid-American Conference player of the year Sophia Wiard struggled to score in her final game, held to five points on 2 of 10 shooting. Also, Washington State outrebounded Toledo 37-25.
Villa led Washington State with 15 points. Tara Wallack had 14 points, and Murekatete finished with 11.
Despite the scoring droughts, Toledo finished with a slightly better field goal percentage (46.6 percent to 45.8) and better 3-point percentage (41.7 percent to 27.8). Hannah Noveroske finished with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
“I could not have been more proud of the effort, the dedication and the desire of our team tonight,” Cullop said. ”They represented our program, our university, and our league very well.”
First Published March 29, 2024, 2:46 a.m.
