Redhawks hot start and strong defense help stave off Toledo Rockets comeback
The No. 1 seeded Miami (OH) Redhawks women’s basketball team came into this MAC championship game against the No. 6 seeded Toledo Rockets a heavy favorite but as with many MAC championship battles this game came down to the end with each team battling for loose balls and playing heroic basketball. Miami (OH) ran out to a fast start with a strong game in the paint and later fought off a scrappy Toledo team time and time again to win their first MAC title since 2009.
Miami began the game pounding the paint and going inside to their post players and scoring easily. After going up 12-0 Toledo called a timeout at the 5 minute mark to try and regroup and settle some championship game nerves. That didn’t help though as the Redhawks got to more easy looks at the rim and ran the lead to 16-0.
Finally Toledo got a couple three pointers drop from the outside and closed the gap to 16-6 by the end of the quarter.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, Miami kept attacking the rim and scored two more baskets. They got their first three pointer to drop at the 6:50 mark of the quarter to stretch the lead to 23-6. For a team that typically hits three pointers in bunches the fact that they attacked the paint to start the game was a different strategy but it worked to perfection.
Miami continued to harass Toledo defensively, turning the Rockets over a lot in the first half. However, the Rockets kept working and were able to close the gap to 28-16 by halftime.
Into the second half both teams turned up the defense even more as each squad struggled to find points. At the media time out (4:42) it was 40-29 in favor of Miami (OH). Toledo kept clawing closer and forcing Miami (OH) into turnovers made a few more baskets to close out the 3rd quarter to a 47-40 deficit.
Both the Rockets and Redhawks battled into the 4th quarter trading baskets. At the media timeout (4:49) Miami (OH) still had the lead at 54-47. At the 3:45 mark Toledo got a three to fall and got to within 56-50. The lead for the Redhawks was 60-52 at the 2 minute mark. But Patricia got a bucket and was fouled to close the lead to 60-55 at the 1:31 mark.That was the closest Toledo got the rest of the way as Miami (OH) hit their free throws down the stretch.
For the game Miami was led in scoring by Amber Tretter with 23 points and with her 10 boards recorded her latest double double. The other post player for the Redhawks in Ilse de Vries contributed 17 points and 6 boards. Amber Scalia went for 14 points while Tamar Singer scored 13 points.
I asked Tretter about the pressure late in the game and going to the free throw line to keep Toledo at a distance. Tretter reflected on that by saying, “ Everytime I step to the line I always tell myself I’m making them, like if you tell yourself to say ‘don’t miss’ all your mind is going to do is think about missing…i just imagine a free throw I make everyday in practice… I just need to step up and put them in…and it goes back to our team and the confidence that we all have and that everyone just has each other’s backs.”
The contrast in this Miami (OH) style of play from their semifinal win against Ohio was in full effect in that first half of this game. While they hit nothing but three pointers in the semi win in today’s victory they kept attacking the rim and scoring. I asked Miami’s (OH) head coach Glen Box about that today. He remarked, “that speaks to our versatility and our intelligence because we simply take what people give us…each game has its own identity… of course there are adjustments…we just want to be efficient, make the right play, we want to play pretty basketball and today was an example of that. “
Toledo was led again by their lone senior Patricia Anumgba who went for 22 points and 8 rebounds. Ella Waever added 10 points while cadence Dykstra had 9 points.
Miami’s dominance in the paint helped grab that 16-0 lead early. They finished with 36 points in that paint. Toledo fought back late because of their own success in the paint as they added 30 points there.
When the score was 16-0 in favor of Miami and then 26-6 a bit later I asked the players Anumgba and Weaver what it was that kept them fighting and scrapping back, “Well, it’s not over till the clock hits zero… we’ve been in bigger holes before… we knew we could bring it and come back into the game.” Weaver added, “ we wanted this game for Pat (Patricia Anumgba)… I know she felt like she let us down but it was the opposite.”
For Coach Boggess this is the second championship game she’s helped Toledo get to in as many years as she’s been here. I asked her what that meant to her and that early success at a strong basketball program like Toledo. She reflected on that, “ It makes me hungrier, it makes me grateful. But it makes me more excited to get back to work and to bring home a championship for this community because they deserve it…I have a growth mindset, we’ll continue to recruit really high level kid and high level people and it’s just saying there’s opportunity.”
Now Miami (OH) will await Selection Sunday tomorrow and find out where they are going “Dancing” in the NCAA tournament. I asked Coach Box about that experience upcoming for his players and he had this to say, “ I came here to win championships, I also came here to win in the (NCAA) tournament…I was at Indiana (as an assistant), that experience has prepared me for this (NCAA) tournament.. I know how to win in that tournament…those are the messages I share with those kids and try to instill confidence in them daily.”
He continued, “When you see your name up there with UConn and LSU and all those schools with celebrity players and coaches, that’s when it becomes real… it’s a box you check… but then it’s go time and it’s back to work on Monday…”
He added, “…People used to snicker when I got here…when we would talk about winning championships. And now we won a championship. Our goal is to be in the Sweet 16…that’s our expectation.”
If the Redhawks play like they have over the last month of play in the MAC conference where every game was like a playoff game where every team was taking their best shot at them then that goal of hitting that Sweet 16 mark isn’t too hard to believe. Stay tuned as we’ll follow Miami’s (OH) path into the NCAA tournament.
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