UT loses finale in OT

The Rockets suffered an 89-84 overtime loss Tuesday night in the season-finale against Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich.

"I think we showed a lot of heart coming back despite the deficit to force overtime," Toledo Head Coach Tricia Cullop said. "The unfortunate thing was that in overtime we had some turnovers that absolutely killed us."

The Rockets (22-7, 12-4 Mid-American Conference) had 25 turnovers and struggled to contain Eastern Michigan (21-7, 11-5 MAC) and sophomore guard Tavelyn James, who torched Toledo's defense and tied her single-game scoring record with a game-high 40 points.

"She's a tremendous player," Cullop said. "She can pass, she can shoot, she can drive and she's quick. You can't leave her open for a second or it's going up. She has deep range. She's a very tough match up."

EMU junior guard Cassie Schrock and freshman forward Chenise Miller each contributed 11 points.

Pacing the Rockets was senior forward Tanika Mays, who finished the game with 23 points and 12 rebounds for her team-best seventh double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Naama Shafir added 21 points and dished out a game-high eight assists. Senior forward Allie Clifton contributed 13 points with five rebounds, and junior forward Melissa Goodall finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

Senior forward Lisa Johnson scored six points with six rebounds and was injured late in regulation. She was scheduled to visit a doctor yesterday, but the extent of the injury is not yet known.

Toledo and EMU shot an identical 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) from the field in the first half. UT finished at 46 percent (29 of 63) while holding the Eagles to 36.8 percent (25 of 68). Eastern made up the difference with 34 points off free-throws. The Rockets finished 19-of-25 (76 percent) from the free-throw line compared to EMU's 34-of-45 (75.6 percent).

"We weren't patient or aggressive offensively," Cullop said. "We didn't get to the free throw line because we weren't aggressive offensively. We didn't force them to foul us."

"There's only one thing to say," a visibly upset Mays said. "We didn't come ready to play tonight and it showed. You can see that they wanted it more than us."

Five different players scored baskets to help UT take an 11-2 advantage with 15:38 left in the first half.

Toledo's offense went cold as Miller and James scored 12 of Eastern's next 15 points to give the Eagles their first lead at 17-16 with 9:11 left in the half. UT went on a run capped by a Mays jumper to go up 22-17 with 6:56 left. EMU finished the half on a 14-4 run to take a 31-26 lead.

James opened the half with two triples to push EMU's lead to 44-30 with 16:09 left. Toledo caught fire, going on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to 46-44. Mays started the run with a lay-up that was followed by back-to-back three-point plays from Goodall and a three-pointer each from Mays and Clifton.

A lay-up from Mays at the 9:23 mark gave UT a 49-48 lead. Taking advantage of two free-throws each by Mays and Clifton, Toledo increased its lead to 55-49 with 8:02 left to play.

Schrock scored five-straight points to give Eastern Michigan a 56-55 lead with 6:09 to go.

A put-back by freshman forward Lecretia Smith and a three from Shafir gave UT a 62-57 lead at the 4:12 mark. The Rockets held the lead until sophomore forward Paige Redditt sank a pair of free-throws to tie the game at 67 with 18 seconds left.

Shafir drained two free-throws after getting fouled on a lay-up attempt to give UT a 69-67 lead, but James quickly drove the length of the floor and dished to Redditt. She was fouled with one second left and made both free-throws to force overtime.

Redditt and James opened up overtime with back-to-back lay-ups. Clifton was fouled and sank one-of-two free throws, but EMU responded with a 7-2 run.

Shafir made Toledo's first basket in overtime with 1:49 remaining in the game, scoring 11 points with an assist down the stretch, but James drained 8-of-8 free-throws to seal the win.

"It's definitely a wake-up call," Mays said. "But how many more wake-up calls do we need? Next time, it's do or die. If we lose, we're done."

Toledo has a first-round bye in the MAC Tournament and returns to action Wed., March 10 to take on the winner of No. 7 seed Ball State (12-16, 6-9) and No. 10 seed Western Michigan (9-20, 4-12).