Toledo squeezes Orange, rocket into WNIT Final Four

Naama Shafir scored a team high 22 points, including two key free throws with seven seconds left in overtime, propelling the Rockets into their first-ever WNIT national semifinal berth as Toledo squeezed Syracuse, 71-68, Sunday afternoon in front of 5,001 at Savage Arena.

In what has become a dramatic postseason run, Toledo has become the first Mid-American Conference women's basketball team to advance in the Women's National Invitational Tournament Final Four and they did it by knocking off Delaware, Auburn, Alabama, and now Syracuse.

The Rockets (27-8) will host Charlotte on Wednesday, March 30 at 7 p.m. in one WNIT Final Four semifinal. The 49ers (27-9) edged Virginia 79-74 Saturday night, ending Hall of Fame coach Debbie Ryan's career at Virginia in the WNIT quarterfinals.

In addition to Toledo and Charlotte, Illinois State and Southern Cal also punched their tickets to the WNIT Final Four. The Redbirds (24-10) defeated Arkansas 60-49 while the Trojans (23-12) put away Colorado 87-70, despite Brittany Spears' career-high 36 points for the Buffs.

But it wasn't easy for the Rockets against Syracuse, which fell behind 14-4 to the Orange midway through the first half and by 11 and 12 points for several minutes in the second half.

With just over 10 minutes in the game and down 12 (52-44), Toledo went on a 12-5 run in a four-minute span to tie the game at 55-55. The Rockets fell behind 3 but rallied to take thier first lead of the game (59-58) with 3:34 left in regulation.

Toledo had a 62-60 lead with less than 2 minutes left but couldn't put the Orange away. Syracuse sent the game into overtime with 46 seconds left.

The Rockets outscored Syracuse 9-6 in the extra session to seal their final four berth and extended their home court winning streak to 16.

Yolanda Richardson was the only other Rocket to reach double figures. She scored 13. Erica Morrow (23) and Kayla Alexander (17) took scoring honors for the Orange in the loss.

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