BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — In the offseason, Bowling Green added transfer Allison Day from Loyola University Chicago because they knew they needed some size to matchup against Toledo. Well, it worked.
Day, in her first Battle of I-75, scored 31 points to help Bowling Green defeat their rivals from Toledo 88-76 on Wednesday night in front of a raucous crowd inside the Stroh Center.
“It was really cool. I think my teammates did a great job preparing me for what that feels like, the rivalry, what the Stroh’s going to feel like,” said Bowling Green senior Allison Day. “It was just really cool to be a part of and we talked before the game, just have fun and be us and that was a really fun game to play.”
The win moves Bowling Green to 4-1 in the MAC and they’re tied with Ball State and Akron for first place.
“In the MAC, every night feels like a big game, but I’d be remised to think that this game doesn’t have something extra with the rivalry and Toledo’s had a lot of success last season and this season as well,” said Bowling Green head coach Robyn Fralick. “When you can get a win, a signature win, it means a lot. But I also know we’ve got a game Saturday and if you spend one second resting on what happened Wednesday, the MAC’s tough. It was a big win for us, but we’ve got a lot of games left to play.”
Toledo averages just 12 turnovers per game this season, but against Bowling Green, they turned it over 22 times and they fall to 3-2 in the MAC. Quinesha Lockett led the Rockets with 27 points.
“What’s got us where we are is taking care of the basketball and we average about 12 turnovers a game. We had way too many today,” said Toledo head coach Tricia Cullop. “Defensively we have to deny the ball better inside. There’s some key moments that if we would have done those things and stayed disciplined defensively and not jump out of our shoes on fakes, maybe it’s a different outcome, but we didn’t and they took advantage of it.”
“We beat ourselves out there. There’s no reason we can’t beat them,” said Toledo forward Sammi Mikonowicz. “We’ve got a lot to work on, but we’ll get them back.”
Jocelyn Tate left the game with an injury, but she scored 13 points and pulled down six rebounds in the contest for BG. They used a balanced attack to defeat the Rockets. Nyla Hampton scored 11, Lexi Fleming added 11, and Amy Velasco had 10 for the Falcons.
The rematch between the Falcons and Rockets takes place on Saturday, March 4 at 2 p.m. at Savage Arena.
Up next: Bowling Green welcomes Kent State to Stroh Center on Saturday. Toledo hosts Akron on Saturday.