YPSILANTI, Mich. – Toledo tasted defeat for the first time in over a month with a 54-33 setback to Eastern Michigan on Wednesday in a battle for first place in the Mid-American Conference West Division. The loss snaps the Rockets' 10-game win streak and drops them into the second spot in the division with an 18-8 overall mark, 11-3 in the league.
The Eagles (20-7, 12-2 MAC) were also the last team to take down UT, 70-66, on Wednesday, Jan. 11 inside Savage Arena.
Junior Yolanda Richardson paced the Rockets with 18 points, nine rebounds and a game-high six blocks. Junior Lecretia Smith was the Midnight Blue & Gold's next high scorer with five points. UT's leading point producers sophomore Andola Dortch and senior Courtney Ingersoll combined for three points on 1-of-8 shooting with nine turnovers.
Toledo's efficient offense was stymied by EMU's pressure defense and limited to 35.1 percent (13-of-37) from the field, including 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from beyond the arc, en route to its lowest scoring output since Nov. 24, 2004 when Marquette held them to 28 points.
The Rockets were also guilty of a season-tying worst 28 miscues, which EMU translated into 23 points to sweep the regular-season series for the first time since 2008.
The 2010-11 MAC regular-season champs came into tonight's division showdown pacing the league in overall field-goal percentage (42.9%), three-point field-goal percentage (36.4%) and three-point field goals made (6.8).
MAC Player of the Year candidate Tavelyn James led the victors with a game-high 20 points. UT's Ingersoll did a good job containing the ultra-quick guard for a majority of the game, limiting her to 8-of-20 shooting from the floor. But the MAC's leading scorer was too much down the stretch, scoring 14 points in the second half to extend EMU's win streak to eight straight games.
Toledo was never able to find its offensive rhythm and committed eight turnovers in the first 11-plus minutes, falling behind 12-6 at the 9:36 mark. EMU's Paige Redditt did a majority of the scoring for the home team with five points, forcing UT into an early timeout.
UT did not help its own cause as the opening period wore on and went almost eight minutes without a point. Sophomore Briana Jones tallied four-consecutive points to finally end the drought, making the deficit 14-10 at 5:58.
Toledo would be unable to sustain Jones' momentum though, as EMU ended the half with a 12-5 burst to take a 28-18 lead into the intermission.
Redditt paced the Eagles with 11 points in the opening period, while Richardson had a team-high 10 points with four rejections.
EMU's James scored four quick points to open up the second stanza and extended the home team's margin to 36-24 with 14:13 left in regulation, prompting UT to take another timeout.
James did not skip a beat following the stoppage and converted eight consecutive points to further increase the Eagles' lead to 44-29 with 10:29 remaining in the game.
UT's shooting woes continued as the 2011 WNIT champs mustered only four points the final 10-plus minutes to see its longest win streak in over a decade come to an end.
The Rockets will look to bounce back on Saturday, Feb. 25 when they close out their home slate vs. Northern Illinois. The opening tip is slated for 4:30 p.m. in Savage Arena. The division matchup is the first of a doubleheader, as the Rocket men's team will follow with a contest against Western Michigan at 7:00 p.m. Prior to the game, UT's two seniors - Courtney Ingersoll and Haylie Linn - will be honored.
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