MAC Tournament Semifinals: Rockets clip the Cardinals' wings

Photo Credit: Curt Lydy

Written By: Mark Mackowiak

Date: 3/17/26

One round down, two to go.

The MAC Tournament semi-finals are upon us, which mean another opportunity for the Toledo Rockets women’s basketball team to prove their seed is just a number. Given the six seed, the Rockets faced the number two overall seed Ball State Cardinals, a team that Toledo is more than familiar with.

The two teams have faced off twice already this season, with Ball State winning both of those matchups. The first matchup was a four-point Ball State win in Muncie; the second was a seven-point Cardinals’ win in Toledo, to spoil UT’s senior night.

With revenge on Toledo’s mind, the stage had been set and both teams were ready to go to work.

From the jump it was clear that Toledo’s game plan was to bring the intensity and embrace the underdog mentality. Sophomore forward Miriam Diala was tasked with guarding the six-foot-five center for the Cardinals, Tessa Towers, and from the beginning did not disappoint.

Diala, who did the dirty work for the Rockets all day, forced two early misses from Towers, and showed that she would prevent Towers from making an impact in any way possible. Diala was getting in Towers' face, preventing her from rolling to the basket, and contesting every shot taken. Towers ended up shooting 0/4 from the floor in the first quarter.

The Rockets played close for the first five minutes of the first quarter; but the Cardinals’ ability to shoot three pointers was too much for them to handle. After a deep spot-up three from sophomore guard Grace Kingery, and back to back threes from Bree Salenbien, the Cardinals would go on a run and finish the first quarter up 17-10.

The second quarter began with better play from the Rockets, as they forced Towers to keep shooting, with nothing going for her. Junior guard Ella Weaver, who had 16 points in the Rockets first round game, got the Rockets’

momentum to pick up with a step back three. From here it would beToledo’s game for the taking.

Graduate student and experienced guard, Patricia Anumgba hit three straight three-pointers to get the Rockets within one point. On the next defensive possession, Kendall Carruthers got a steal and threw it up ahead to a streaking Diala who laid it in to give the Rockets a 30-29 lead at the

half.

From this point on, the Rockets took the lead and never looked back.

Toledo got some help early in the third quarter, with scores from Cadence Dykstra, Evyn Carrier, and Ella Weaver. But the game was turned on its head when Anumgba got a tough contested layup to go, flexing on the Cardinals, helping Toledo on their 10-0 run.

This game was full of emotion, and that could be felt not just from the players. Head coach Ginny Boggess tore off her jacket and threw it to the ground, yelling at the official after a questionable call on Anumgba. After getting talked to by the officials, Coach Boggess fired up the Toledo faithful and made them a factor down the stretch.

Toledo was able to keep their composure on the court, calming things down with more points, even despite Ball State continuing to rain threes.

The third quarter ended with the Rockets up 52-49; ten more minutes to decide who would go to the MAC Championship.

The final quarter began with Ball State continuing to add their pressure and tying the game up with 8:30 to go.

But as had been the story in the first half, Toledo responded to the pressure by getting a huge three-pointer from Carruthers. The other factor that came into play this quarter was the foul trouble Ball State would face. Both bigs for them, Tessa Towers and Alba Caballero, would pick up their fourth fouls early in the fourth quarter, taking them out of the game.

With the semifinal game up for the taking, Toledo seized the opportunity, with great ball movement and teamwork, to give the Cardinals no rest on their defensive end.

Down the stretch Toledo found themselves at the free throw line quite a bit but was unfazed by the pressure. Kendall Carruthers and Patricia Anumgba both knocked down clutch free throws to close out the game and earn Toledo their 69-65 victory!

After the game I asked Ella Weaver about the way Toledo took the lead in the fourth quarter and never looked back. Weaver told me simply that, “we wanted it for each other”, explaining how they were able to dig deep and grind this win out.

“We just took it play-by-play"

Weaver also explained how they were never looking ahead to the next possession and were able to remain composed by understanding how big each moment in this game was.

No matter how you look at this season for the Rockets, you can’t ignore how special this team is. No matter who is on the court, no matter who they face, this Rockets team will give you a run for your money and turn some heads along the way