The Falcon women’s basketball team fell to the Toledo Rockets 76-56 on Saturday afternoon in the Battle of I-75. The team nears the halfway point of the conference schedule with a 0-8 record against conference opponents.
The Falcons also played against Toledo earlier in the season Jan. 19, but the team was also unable to come away with the win as they lost 79-65.
“We’ve been down many times this year in conference play and we’ve fought back,” Falcons head coach Robyn Fralick said. “In our third quarter (of tonight’s game) we didn’t. We just have to get better and get ready for the next one.”
The Falcons came into the game with a little more rest than originally anticipated, as extremely cold temperatures forced Wednesday night’s scheduled home game against the Central Michigan Chippewas to be postponed until Feb. 20. The team started out the game by holding Toledo to a 16-13 lead in the first quarter, with junior forward Andrea Cecil leading the offense with four points early on. However, the close game would not last into the second quarter as Toledo outscored the Falcons 23-5, on their way to taking a 39-18 advantage into halftime.
“We’ve got to defend better,” Fralick said. “That’s been pretty consistent throughout conference play. It’s hard when the other team is scoring consistently in a variety of ways. We’ve got to be able to guard one on one better.”
The third quarter would not be much better, as Toledo outscored the team 24-13 to make it a 63-31 game with 10 minutes remaining. Senior guard Sydney Lambert and senior forward Maddie Cole each had four points to lead the Falcons offense in the third.
However, the team was able to turn things around in the fourth, outscoring Toledo 25-13 on the strength of seven-point performances by sophomore center Terri Battle and junior center Jane Uecker. It wouldn’t be enough, though, as Toledo took the 76-56 victory and took both games in the Battle of I-75 series, as the Falcons continue to seek their first victory of the season in conference play.
Overall, the Falcons were led on offense by Lambert with 10 points, while Uecker followed not far behind with nine points along with Cecil, who had eight points. Toledo guard Nakiah Black scored 24 points on the way to the victory, helping Toledo to recover from an overtime loss against the Akron Zips that had snapped a three-game winning streak.
The Falcons will next play on Wednesday night on the road against the Northern Illinois Huskies.
