RENO — The University of Toledo women’s basketball team captured the John Ascuaga’s Nugget Classic title, topping host Nevada on Saturday in the championship game, 73-61.
The win was the 100th at Toledo for fifth-year coach Tricia Cullop. She joins Bill Fennelly and Mark Ehlen as the only coaches in school history to top the century mark.
Reserve guard Janelle Reed-Lewis led the Rockets with 15 points, while tournament Most Valuable Player, guard Naama Shafir and wing Inma Zanoguera chipped in with 11 and 10, respectively.
Zanoguera and center Brianna Jones shared team honors with six rebounds, and Shafir recorded seven assists.
Reed-Lewis made three of her team’s nine 3-pointers.
The Rockets (4-1) put together a 15-1 run in the first half and entered halftime up 46-24.
UT shot an impressive 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field, including 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the charity stripe to claim its sixth tourney title in school history and third under Cullop.
For a second-straight game, the Rockets did not trail and raced out to a 10-4 lead at the 16:13 mark behind six early points from senior center Yolanda Richardson.
The Start product, who finished with eight points, converted a pair of layups and knocked down both of her free throws in the opening three-plus minutes.
Andola Dortch (eight points) joined Shafir on the all-tournament team.
Toledo, which topped Santa Clara 73-48 on Thursday, outrebounded Nevada (3-2) 43-37.