Well, it’s time to put you on notice. The Toledo women’s basketball team is off to their best start in 11 years and is on pace to go down as one of the finest teams in program history.
In just her second season with the Rockets, UT Head Coach Tricia Cullop has completely changed the landscape of the program. Toledo was picked to finish last in the Mid-American Conference West Division in last year’s preseason poll after finishing the 2007-08 season with a 14-16 (5-10 MAC) record. Cullop sculpted the Rockets into a legitimate league contender last year, guiding the team to the third-best record at 18-13 (11-5 MAC) and earning MAC Co-Coach of the Year honors in her first season at the helm. With nine players returning, including all five starter, the Rockets were tabbed to finish first in the West in this year’s poll.
At the midpoint of the season, Toledo is 13-3 (3-0 MAC), including a victory over No. 20 Dayton at Savage Arena—a game in which Toledo erased a 19-point deficit for the win—and last night’s 72-63 victory over MAC West leader Eastern Michigan (12-3, 2-1).
With a veteran core in senior co-captains Allie Clifton, Lisa Johnson and Tanika Mays, one of the best point guards in the conference in sophomore Naama Shafir and a deep and talented bench, the Rockets are poised to make a serious bid for the MAC championship and a postseason berth. These girls are good. Really good.
On offense, Toledo is unselfish and shoots the ball well from the outside, ranking first in the MAC in field goal percentage (44.5) and assists per game (16.53), and third in both three-point field goal percentage (35.9) and three-point field goals made per game (6.93). All together, the Rockets have the third-best scoring offense in the conference, averaging 71.3 points per game. Toledo’s depth, size and tenacity also makes them solid defensively, leading the league in three-point field goal percentage defense (27.0), while also ranking fourth in defensive rebounds per game (25.07) and steals per game (10.20), and is tied for fifth in blocks per game (3.33).
Mays and Shafir—both preseason All-MAC West Division selections—have played as advertised, leading the Rockets’ attack with 14.8 and 13.4 points per game, respectively.
Mays has recorded a double-double in five contests this season, two of which came in back-to-back games against MAC West rivals Northern Illinois (7-8, 1-2 MAC) and Central Michigan (4-11, 1-2 MAC) last week when she was under the weather and not playing at 100 percent. She scored a career-high 28 points with 11 rebounds in last night’s win for her third-straight double-double.
Shafir, meanwhile, dropped a career-high 36 points on Oakland back in November and is second in the MAC with 6.3 assists per game.
Without Cullop, none of the aforementioned success would have been possible for the Rockets.
While several contests and challenges remain for the Rockets—including a matchup with arch-rival and MAC East Division power Bowling Green (13-4, 3-0) on Jan. 30 at Savage Arena—each game Toledo is giving fans and opponents reasons to pay attention.
— Mike Bauman is the Assistant Sports Editor and a senior majoring in Communication.
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