Jan. 25, 2012
Final Stats
TOLEDO - The Miami University women's basketball team came out firing, but a hot-shooting second half by the Toledo Rockets proved to be its undoing in a 79-66 defeat Wednesday evening. Maggie Boyer led the Red and White with 20 points. The RedHawks fall to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets improve to 12-7 overall and 5-2 in the MAC.
It couldn't have started out better for Miami as Boyer drained a deep three to get the Red and White on the board. The RedHawks forced Toledo into several early misses as three-pointers from Hannah Robertson and Boyer, along with a layup from Kirsten Olowinski gave Miami an 11-0 lead five minutes into the contest.
After the Rockets got on the board with a three-pointer of their own, Boyer continued her hot shooting start with five more points to put the RedHawks a 16-3 advantage with 12:46 to go. Toledo got hot, as it went on a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to pull within three at 16-13. An old fashioned three-point play by Olowinski stopped the bleeding, and Boyer's fourth three-pointer of the half gave Miami a 22-13 lead at the 8:14 mark.
The rest of the frame went back-and-forth from there, as a 6-0 run by the Rockets was stopped by a Courtney Osborn layup and free throw conversion. Trailing 27-21, a 5-0 run by Toledo would pull it to within one, but again Osborn kept Miami in front with a jumper. The Rockets would hit the final bucket of the half to send the RedHawks into the break up one, 29-28.
Boyer finished with 14 points for the half, while Osborn contributed seven. Miami outrebounded Toledo, 22-19, during the frame and pulled in 10 offensive caroms.
Two free throws to begin the second half by Boyer would extend the RedHawk advantage to three, but a three-pointer and three quick layups by the Rockets gave them their first lead of the game at 37-31 with 17:21 to go. They eventually expanded the advantage to 44-35 at the 14:04 mark.
A layup from Rachael Hencke and a jumper by Hannah Robertson would close Miami to within five at 44-39 and force a Toledo timeout. Out of the break the Rockets were on fire, hitting four three-pointers and a couple layups as part of a 16-2 run that would put the game out of reach at 60-41 at the 9:07 mark. The RedHawks would settle down defensively from there, but were only able to outscore Toledo 20-15 the rest of the way as they fell, 79-63.
In addition to Boyer's 20 points, Osborn scored 17 and Olowinski put in 10. Miami shot 34.4 percent for the game (22-for-64), while Toledo hit on 54.2 percent (32-for-59) of its shots. That included a blistering 69.0 percent (20-for-29) in the second half. The Rockets ended up outrebounding the RedHawks, 39-33, for the contest.
Miami returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Ball State at noon. That is a special noon broadcast and will be broadcast live on STO. It has also been picked up for broadcast on ESPN3.com. It is Kidsfest at Millett hall and there will be a pregame clinic at 11 a.m. featuring demonstrations from several varsity and club sports at Miami.
