KENT, OH - Kent State's Taisja Jones scored the game's final six points to lift the Golden Flashes to a 62-59 victory over Toledo on Wednesday in the M.A.C. Center. With the loss, the Rockets fall to 17-5 overall, 7-2 in the Mid-American Conference.

"Kent State outplayed us tonight, especially in the second half," said Toledo Head Coach Tricia Cullop, whose team lost its first game of the season when leading at the intermission (13-1 mark). "They wanted it more than we did and that is disappointing. We now have to bounce back and be ready for our next game because it is a long MAC season. This is only one game, but it's very frustrating to be outplayed."

Junior Melissa Goodall paced UT with a season-high 19 points and sophomore Naama Shafir had 17 points in a losing effort. Goodall shot 4-of-8 from the field and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe to score double digits for the third-consecutive contest.

As a team, UT was limited to 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field, including 31.6 percent (6-of-19) from three-point range, and 56.7 percent (19-of-25) from the charity stripe, suffering its fourth-consecutive loss on KSU's (14-7, 7-2 MAC) home floor.

Jones and Jamilah Humes each finished with 17 points to lead the Golden Flashes, who extended their win streak to a season-high five-consecutive contests. Jones added a game-high 12 caroms and helped the home team post a 46-42 edge on the boards.

Goodall started fast for the Midnight Blue & Gold and converted a pair of baskets in the opening two-plus minutes to push the Rockets to a 6-0 lead at 17:04.

The Golden Flashes quickly responded with a 9-0 burst to take their first advantage of the game, 9-6, with 14:23 remaining. Yoshica Spears and Humes combined to score all in the points in the run.

KSU maintained the lead as the first half wore on and a traditional three-point play from Lorriane Odhiambo made the difference 16-12 at the 8:57 mark.

The Rockets then started to heat up from the outside and went on a 15-3 run to reclaim the lead, 28-19, with 3:52 remaining in the half. Shafir hit a triple and converted a three-point play in the run, while junior Jessica Williams also had a trey to open up a nine-point bulge.

UT would not take its foot off the gas pedal for the rest of the opening stanza and received another three pointer from Williams to take a 35-25 lead into the intermission.

KSU opened the second half with a 9-3 run to close the margin to 38-34 at 15:33, forcing UT into a timeout. The home team received baskets from four different players in the opening burst to make it a two-possession contest.

The Rockets needed to stop the momentum and a pair of field goals from sophomore Courtney Ingersoll accomplished the task, making the score 43-38 with 13:24 left.

UT then received five-consecutive free throws from Goodall over the next couple of minutes to create some breathing room, 50-42, at 8:41.

Unfortunately for the visitors, they would not be able to put KSU away and a pair of charity tosses from Odhiambo closed the margin to 53-51 at 3:53.

After Shafir hit a triple for Toledo, the home team countered with a basket from Spears and a traditional three-point play from Jones to again draw the teams even, 56-56, with 1:29 remaining.

Shafir dialed long distance one more time for UT, but the Golden Flashes retaliated with a pair of free throws from Jones and another traditional three-point play from the from the junior to give them the lead for good, 61-59, at 34.9 seconds.

The Rockets had three shots in the waning seconds but they did not fall and were forced to foul Jones, who came down with the rebound. The teams walked to the other end of the floor, and she split the free throws to make it a three-point final. UT had one final attempt to force overtime, but Shafir's half-court shot at the buzzer fell short.

The Rockets will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 6 when they travel to Ohio. The opening tip is slated for 2:00 p.m. from the Convo.