Rockets fall to BGSU in MAC Championship

CLEVELAND — In a match up of the Mid-American Conference's top two seeds, the UT women's basketball team trailed by one with just 90 seconds remaining but allowed eight unanswered points in a 62-53 loss to No. 1 Bowling Green in the MAC Championship game at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday. The 62 points were the second-smallest scoring output by the Falcons in a game this season.

"I thought our kids played their hearts out," Toledo Head Coach Tricia Cullop said. "This game came down to the wire and it lived up to its billing. I couldn't be more proud of them."

The loss enters Toledo (24-8, 14-5 MAC) into the Women's National Invitation Tournament, with their opponent to be announced today. Bowling Green (27-6, 17-2) earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as they won their 10th overall MAC Championship in school history and their fourth in the last five years.

"I wish Bowling Green nothing but the best," Cullop said. "They're going to surprise someone in the tournament, they're that good."

Falcons junior guard Lauren Prochaska scored 29 of her team's 62 points including 12 points in the final nine minutes on her way to earning MAC Tournament MVP honors.

"She's a good player," Mays said. "All you can do is try to slow her down. She's going to get baskets."

"She's a great offensive player," Bowling Green Head Coach Curt Miller said. "She's a once-in-a-lifetime player."

Toledo was led by senior forward Tanika Mays, who had a team-high 18 points along with four assists and tied a season-high with four 3-pointers. Junior forward Melissa Goodall scored 15 points and had a game-high 13 rebounds, just the second time she has recorded more than 15 points and 10 rebounds in a game this season. Sophomore guard Naama Shafir added 12 points and a game-high seven assists. Both Mays and Shafir were selected to the All-MAC Tournament team.

The Falcons held a 46-40 edge in rebounding and a 32-24 scoring advantage in the paint against the bigger UT squad and attempted 16 free throws before Toledo attempted one.

"This game certainly played the way we wanted it up in the 70's 80's but at this time of the year defense and rebounding wins championships," Miller said. "If you were to tell us before the game that we would have more points in the paint than them and we outrebounded them I would say that would have given us a huge shot at winning the game because they are so dominant inside."

The Rockets jumped out to an early 13-4 lead, holding the MAC's top offense (73.9 ppg) to just two baskets in the first eight minutes. Bowling Green finished the half on a 17-2 run in the last 8:19 of the half and took a 29-24 lead into the break.

"We were down big early, I think the nerves got to us and we were impatient," Prochaska said. "As we settled down we were able to run our plays better and get the shots we wanted to get."

Toledo scored the first six points of the second half to regain the lead 30-29. The Falcons opened up the lead to five point at 52-47 with 3:34 remaining but two missed free throws by Mays and one by Shafir left the door open for BGSU, which followed the misses with an 8-2 run, sinking all six free throw attempts.

The Rockets will await tomorrow's announcement for their opponent in the NIT which will begin this week. The match up could result in a postseason game at Savage Arena.

"Our kids have so much to keep their heads up about," Cullop said. "They've had a tremendous regular season and hopefully in the NIT we can have some fun."