In the battle of I-75 at the Stroh Center Saturday, Toledo opened on a 16-3 run and held on to defeat the Bowling Green State University women, 71-67.

“We just didn’t come out like we did on Wednesday night (win over Western Michigan),” BGSU senior forward Kadie Hempfling said.

“Not that I’m comparing games, but when we don’t come out with a lot of energy and we struggle on both ends of the floor, we don’t do very well. That was the case.”

Toledo improved to 15-4 overall and 9-1 in the Mid-American Conference.

“I’m really proud of our players. I think road wins are always hard to get, especially here” Toledo coach Tricia Cullop said.

“But I’m really proud because we lost a really gut-retching game against Ohio and I really just talked to the kids about picking themselves back up because obviously this is a big game,” Cullop continued.

“I knew with this rivalry the emotions that go into this game and we had to be ready, and I was really proud of the way we started the game. I thought our players came out and executed very, very well.”

For the Rockets, junior guard Sophie Wiard played all 40 minutes, scoring 20 points with seven rebounds and three assists.

Toledo junior guard Quinesha Lockett had 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Toledo 6-foot-2 freshman forward Jessica Cook had a double-double 10 points, 13 rebounds and three assists and Rossford graduate Sammi Mikonowicz had 10 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

The Rockets continued their first half dominance, maintaining a double-digit lead and up 43-31 at halftime, but the Falcons made a second half run but could not catch Toledo.

The Falcons fell to 9-8 overall and 4-4 in the MAC.

“I thought our first half was the difference in the game. We just didn’t have a very good start,” BGSU coach Robyn Fralick said. “I thought we fought and clawed our way back, giving ourselves some chances near the end, but it was a little bit, too little too late. Toledo has a good team and our first half has to be better.”

Hempfling added, “So we got down and we tried to claw our way back and we fought really hard, we played hard, but when you get down by that much in the first half, it is just so hard against a great team like Toledo.

“I feel like our energy picked up a little bit, and we started slowly to get some stops,” Hempfling continued.

Cullop had a feeling the Falcons would make a run late in the game.

“I knew it was coming that BGSU would pick up their defensive pressure,” Cullop said. “We didn’t do a very good job taking care of it, so it got a little close there at the end.”

Mickonowicz said that as BGSU tried to close the gap late in the game, she and her teammates had to keep composed.

“We just stay together, work together, we knew how many timeouts we had and you just have to know all the mental stuff,” Mickonowicz said.

“You just have to keep your composure and when we did that, just to hold on to our lead and even if we have a few turnovers late in the game we had that lead so we were able to play with that.

“You just have to keep each other up, say, ‘we’re good, we’re good,” just be positive, and if you look each other up and play off each other, we’re good,” Mickonowicz added.

BGSU freshman guard Amy Velasco scored a game-high 21 points with two assists and two steals.

Hempfling had 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals and freshman guard Jocelyn Tate had 10 points and nine rebounds for the Falcons.

Toledo outrebounded BGSU 41-35, the Rockets had 15 assists to the Falcons’ seven.

The Rockets shot 43% (25-for-60) from the floor, made 7-of-24 (29%) from downtown and connected on 12-of-15 free throws (80%).

For Toledo, 6-5 junior center Hannah Novreoske scored six points, sophomore guard Khera Goss scored five points, senior guard Jayda Jensen scored four points and junior guard Soleil Barnes added three points.

The Falcons were 23-for-60 (38%) from the field and had a poor day from beyond the arc, making just 3-of-19 shots (16%) from downtown. BGSU was 18-for-22 from the line.

“I wish we would have shot the ball a little better today,” Hempfling said. “But I could wish a thousand things.”

Fralick and Hempfling both said they loved the environment.

“For a women’s basketball game, it was a great game, it was a packed house, and we had great fan support,” Fralick said. “All of the things you thought about getting to play college basketball as a student-athlete.”

Hempfling thought the Falcons should have taken better advantage of the opportunity.

“We needed a little more energy and enthusiasm,” Hempfling continued. “We’re playing Toledo. That is huge for us and we knew the Stroh was going to be packed.

“If no one on the bench was having energy, then it is a ‘why are you here?’ kind of deal,” Hempfling continued. “We are just going to look ahead now.”