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OXFORD, Ohio -- In another defensive struggle that went down to the final minute, the Miami University women's basketball team came up just short in a 55-50 defeat against Toledo Wednesday evening. The RedHawks fall to 7-8 overall and 1-3 in the Mid-American Conference. The Rockets improve to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in the MAC.

Freshman point guard Leah Purvis had one of the best games of her young career on Wednesday, finishing with a game-high 18 points. She was 6-for-13 from the field, including 4-for-9 from behind the three-point line. Purvis also had three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action.

Sophomore guard Jazz Smith made a major impact defensively off the bench. She finished with a career-high five steals, including three in a minute long stretch that helped Miami get back into the contest. She also had five points, four rebounds and a block in 24 minutes on the court.

The RedHawks started the game with a 5-0 run, including a three-point jumper from Purvis as the shot clock expired for the first points of the game. After Toledo evened the score at five, layups from sophomore guard Ana Richter and Purvis put Miami back in front. Redshirt sophomore forward Megan Galloway hit a jumper to make it 11-10 at the 2:50 mark, but the `Hawks were scoreless for the rest of the quarter as the Rockets took a 14-11 lead.

Miami continued to go scoreless for the first five minutes of the second quarter, but allowed only two Toledo buckets. A lay-up by red shirt sophomore Megan Galloway stopped the bleeding and made it 18-13 with 4:54 to go. Toledo increased its advantage to eight before Purvis drained a triple to drop the lead down to five at 21-16 with 3:41 left. With the Rockets still up five late, freshman guard Nanci Hunter provided the highlight of the half when she pulled off a nice fake under the basket for the open lay-up to head into halftime only down 25-22.

Neither team shot particularly well in the first half with Miami hitting 26.7 percent (8-for-30) of its shots. It held Toledo to a 34.5 percent (10-for-29) shooting percentage. Purvis led the way with eight points for the `Hawks.

After a quick two-pointer for the Rockets to start the third quarter, Purvis would show that she wanted to pick up where she left off. The next two baskets for Miami would be treys by the freshman point guard, cutting Toledo's lead to two at the 6:31 mark. After a turnover by the Rockets, sophomore forward Molly McDonagh and sophomore guard Baleigh Reid hit back-to-back layup to give the RedHawks the lead back at 32-30. Toledo answered with a 10-2 run to put them back in front at 40-34 with 1:44 left in the quarter. The RedHawks closed the period with four made free throws, two by freshman guard Kendall McCoy and two from Reid, to cut the lead to two with a score of 40-38 going into the fourth.

The fourth quarter would start slow for both teams, as the Rockets had the only basket of the frame until the RedHawks countered with a three pointer from Smith with 6:49 left to pull within one at 42-41. A 7-2 run by Toledo over the next three and a half minutes brought the lead to six at 49-43 with 3:02 left in the contest. The teams traded layups until a three pointer by McCoy made it a three-point game at 51-48 with 52 seconds to go. Toledo answered with a layup with 29 seconds remaining, but Purvis answered back with a drive to the hoop that got called for a foul. She converted both of her free throws to make it 53-50 with 10 seconds to go. Miami went for the steal but was forced to commit the foul. The Rockets drained both of their free throws to secure the 55-50 win.

Reid and Galloway finished with six points apiece for the `Hawks. Miami's strong defense held Toledo to 36.2 percent (21-for-58) shooting, including a 2-for-15 (13.3 percent) performance from behind the arc. The Rockets held a 43-36 advantage on the boards for the game.

The RedHawks return to action on Saturday when they travel to Western Michigan for a 2 p.m. contest. The game will air live on ESPN3.