The Toledo women’s basketball came out firing, then held off a late rally to defeat UMass, 67-56, in MAC Tournament quarterfinal action at Rocket Arena in Cleveland on Wednesday.
With the victory, the Rockets now advance to a semifinal matchup on Friday with No. 2 seed Ball State, which defeated No. 7 seed Bowling Green, 75-63.
Kendall Carruthers scored 16 points and was 3-of-4 from three-point range in Toledo’s victory over UMass.
Toledo was led by the backcourt trio of Patricia Anumgba, Ella Weaver and Kendall Carruthers, who combined for 51 points. Anumgba scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half, while Carruthers made 3-of-4 three-pointers to finish with 16 points. Weaver dropped in four triples on her way to a 16-point performance.
The Rockets came out hot, jumping out to an early 16-4 lead that they extended to as many as 15 points in the first half. UMass fought back and tied the game in the fourth quarter but never took the lead. The Rockets outscored UMass, 9-2, down the stretch to seal the victory and advance to the MAC Tournament semifinals for the fifth consecutive year.
“We knew this was going to be a hard one,” said Head Coach Ginny Boggess. “We knew we were going to need our defense to travel, which is always really important in a tournament game. Our defense has showed up for us all year, and it definitely showed up tonight. That’s an incredibly high-powered offense. Their size is almost blinding at times in that zone. But we stayed confident and connected, and we were able to finish it tonight.”
