TOLEDO, OH - Toledo ran its home winning streak to 10 straight with a workmanlike 74-68 victory over Akron on Wednesday before 2,232 fans in Savage Arena. With the triumph, the Rockets remain atop the Mid-American Conference West Division standings at 9-2, 19-5 overall.

Sophomore Naama Shafir paced three UT players in double figures with a game-high 27 points, seven assists and four steals. The 2009-10 preseason All-MAC West Division performer shot 7-of-17 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 10-12 from the charity stripe to help snap the Zips' (14-10, 8-3 MAC) season-high five-game win streak.

"I knew coming into the game that I was going to have to step up my play," said Shafir, who moved into seventh place in UT annals in assists in a single season with 161. "I just tried to do my best to help the team."

Junior Melissa Goodall continued her strong play with 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while senior Lisa Johnson added 12 points and a career-high five helpers off the bench.

The Rockets finished their crossover finale shooting a MAC season-high 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the floor, including a blistering 77.8 percent (7-of-9) from three-point land, and 73.1 percent (19-of-26), despite playing without seniors Tanika Mays (leg injury) and Allie Clifton (foot injury), who missed the game with injuries.

"Tanika and Allie bring a lot of heart to our team and that is something that has led us to a lot of success so far this season," said Johnson, who has now tallied double digits in back-to-back games for the first time this season. "We know for us to be a real good team, we need to give our best, no matter who is on the court. It is a situation of who wants to step up and help bring more success to the team. Those two are our heart and sole, but that doesn't mean we can't have success with them cheering from the sidelines, and we proved that tonight."

Toledo came out of the gates focused and hit six of its first 10 shots from the floor, claiming a 12-8 lead at 13:19. Goodall sparked the early burst with three field goals.

Akron bounced right back and converted a pair of triples from Kyle Baumgartner and Taylor Ruper to take its first advantage, 14-12, with 11:56 remaining.

The Zips maintained the lead behind strong play inside from Rachel Tecca and Jalene Tamboue, before a layup from Johnson followed by a trey from sophomore Courtney Ingersoll helped the Rockets reclaim the edge, 19-18, at the 8:42 mark. Ingersoll started in place in Clifton and tallied nine points with two boards.

Unfortunately for UT, its lead was short lived, as the visitors went on a 9-2 run to take a 28-23 bulge with 3:17 remaining. Akron's Tamboue started the rally with the first four points and Tecca contributed the other five tallies to give the visitors their largest cushion of the half.

Toledo was fortunately able to rally the troops down the stretch and closed with a pair of scores from Johnson and a three-pointer from Shafir to knot the margin at 32-32 at the intermission.

UT remained red-hot to start the second period and capitalized on triples from Shafir from Johnson to open up a 44-36 lead at 15:26.

"I thought Lisa was outstanding tonight," Cullop said. "Naama and Melissa have been scorers for us all season, but I thought we needed somebody else to step up as well, and it was Lisa for the second-consecutive game. She hit some crucial baskets for us. She is a senior that doesn't want to lose."

The Zips' Tamboue then personally put her team back into the contest with five points over the next two-plus minutes to wither the margin to 44-43 with 12:28 remaining.

The Rockets needed a final boost as the half reached the midway point and a pair of treys from Shafir, as well as one from junior Jessica Williams stretched the difference to 56-45 at the 7:43 mark.

UT remained comfortably ahead for the next five-plus minutes, but five-consecutive points from Kara Murphy made it a 64-58 contest with 2:49 left.

Toledo was able to get some stops at the defensive end and hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes to seal the six-point home victory.

"I'm proud of the entire team," Cullop said. "Naama made some amazing plays and Melissa was on-fire most of the game shooting the ball. The team as a whole showed we are not one or two dimensional. We showed a lot of heart and tenacity that we needed to a win against a very good team."

Tamboue led the Zips with 21 points and eight caroms, Baumgartner had 16 points and All-MAC performer Kara Murphy finished with 10 points.

The Rockets return to action on Saturday, Feb. 13 when they host West Division rival Western Michigan at 2:00 p.m. in Savage Arena. Saturday's game against the Broncos has been designated as "Rockets For the Cure." The contest will help benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure of Northwest Ohio. The team encourages everyone in attendance to wear pink in support of cancer research.