Toledo beats BGSU for 5th straight

January 26, 2025

COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: JAN 25 Bowling Green at Toledo — Toledo guard Sammi Mikonowicz shoots under pressure from BGSU defenders during the Battle of I-75 at Savage Arena.

Story by Max Alfonso | Photos by Scott Grau

Toledo guard Kendall Carruthers, a Springfield HS alum, is introduced before the start of the women’s basketball game.

TOLEDO – Toledo sophomore transfer guard and local Springfield HS alum Kendall Carruthers‘ 21 points and a robust second-half team effort lifted the Toledo Rockets over the BGSU Falcons for the 5th straight time in the Battle of I-75.

A back-and-forth first half led to a 10-point BGSU lead with 6:18 left in the 2^nd quarter as BGSU senior guard from Cincinnati Lexi Fleming had it all working. But her high-game score of 23 points wasn’t enough to close the 12-point gap at the end of the game: The Rockets took the Battle of I-75 with a 80-68 victory.

Bowling Green guard Lexi Fleming (25) scores two of her 23 points against Toledo.

Toledo guard Sammi Mikonowicz gives instructions to teammates while pushing off BGSU’s Jasmine Fearne.

BGSU (9-10) went into the halftime break with a 32-27 lead, but it was all Toledo after that.

Toledo (13-5) came out in the second half hot. Two straight BGSU turnovers led to a quick five points to tie the game, forcing BGSU head coach Fred Chimel to call a timeout.

Toledo outscored BGSU in the second half 53-36 to secure their fifth straight game against their rival down south.

Graduate senior Khera Goss had 20 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 6,527, the most ever for a women’s UT-BGSU game.

Toledo guard Khera Goss goes in for a layup.

A record 6,527 fans for Battle of I-75 game packed Savage Arena to watch Toledo take on Bowling Green.

“I couldn’t hear myself think for a second there,” Goss said after the game. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a crowd like that before.”

Senior forward Jessica Cook only played 10 minutes due to foul trouble but her impact was felt. After having zero points in the first half, she finished the game with 8 points, and Toledo was +10 with her on the floor in the second half.

“She (Cook) was really, really important to us out there,” first-year Toledo head coach Ginny Boggess said. “She’s gonna be hard for us to replace.”

Toledo forward Jessica Cook celebrates as the game ends during the women’s basketball Battle of I-75 rivalry game against Bowling Green.

Boggess, who came to Toledo after three seasons as head coach at Monmouth University (New Jersey), said this kind of atmosphere is great for women’s basketball.

“This game is really exciting … it’s really fun,” Boggess said. “Women’s basketball is blowing up for a reason.”

BGSU dropped their second straight game in a season where coming out of halftime has been an issue.

“It’s a pattern,” admitted Chimel. “I think we’re getting better at it but I don’t think we’ve solved it; we’re going to keep on seeing the same test.”

Bowling Green hosts Akron on Tuesday, and Toledo stays at home to host Miami Ohio.

The inaugural episode of The Flyby, a Toledo Free Press podcast, featuring co-hosts Max Alfonso and Chas McNeil, who chat all things Rocket and Falcon athletics.