ASHVILLE, N.C. — The University of Toledo is coming home with a trophy.
Buoyed by a third-quarter explosion, the Rockets propelled past Liberty 71-63 to win the Cherokee Invitational championship in North Carolina.
Just like Wednesday, a 3-pointer from Nan Garcia and Khera Goss proved critical. Garcia gave UT a 46-41 lead off an offensive rebound and Goss put Toledo up 57-44.
The lead ballooned to 15 points early in the fourth quarter, but Liberty did not go quietly into the holiday season. The Lady Flames cut UT’s advantage to five with less than a minute left, mostly because of turnovers and horrific free-throw shooting by the Rockets, who were just 16 of 25 from the charity stripe.