KENT, Ohio — The University of Toledo women’s basketball team began the regular season with a 16-point comeback.
The Rockets nearly ended the regular season with a 19-point comeback.
Down 19 at halftime and 16 in the fourth quarter, Toledo cut the deficit to four in the final minutes but went scoreless for more than two minutes, allowing Kent State to escape with a 69-62 victory.
The closest UT got was three with 15.6 seconds left.
The Rockets shot 50 percent but had 19 turnovers. Nan Garcia had a team-high 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Khera Goss scored 13 points, and Sammi Mikonowicz had 11 points and six rebounds.
Kent’s Jenna Batsch scored a game-high 27 points and had six steals. The Flashes were 8 of 20 from beyond the arc.
Kent’s production came without starter Janae Tyler and key reserve Riley Rismiller. The pair average a combined 19.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. They also have the team’s top two shooting percentages.
A terrible five-minute sequence to end the first half undid Toledo, as the Flashes went on an 11-0 run for a 45-26 halftime lead.
In a fast-paced first quarter, Toledo dug a 6-0 hole out of the gate and trailed 26-17 after 10 minutes. The Rockets fouled Kent’s Dionna Gray at halfcourt on a buzzer beater, and she made all three free throws.
UT shot 54.5 percent in the quarter, but the Flashes were even better, converting 10 of 16 field goals, including two 3s.
STAT TO KNOW
Mikonowicz is 12 rebounds shy of breaking the program record held by Angela Drake (1,087).
QUOTABLE
“I felt like we were sluggish from the start, and again, I’ll take [the blame for] that. I’ve got to have us ready to come into a place like this and be ready to go against a championship-caliber team. They were missing both of their post players. We didn’t know if they were going to play and we just didn’t respond to that change well.” — Toledo coach Ginny Boggess
UP NEXT
The No. 2 seed Rockets play seventh-seeded Central Michigan at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the MAC tournament quarterfinals.
First Published March 8, 2025, 9:33 p.m.
