CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Toledo capitalized on aggressive inside play and tenacious rebounding Sunday night, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds while earning a 61-57 women’s basketball victory over UMaine in the championship game of the University of Miami Holiday Tourney.

The Rockets (6-5) scored six unanswered points during a critical two-minute span late in the second half while gaining the lead for good.

“We had spurts, but when you’re playing for a championship, you’ve got to know the other team wants it as bad as you do,” said UMaine coach Cindy Blodgett. “Unfortunately, we didn’t fight as much as we needed to, to win this.”

The Black Bears (3-10) had advanced to the title game by hanging on for a 54-53 victory over the Hurricanes in Saturday’s tourney opener.

Freshman guard Emily Rousseau of Biddeford and sophomore guard Amanda Tewksbury of UMaine each earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Toledo’s Allie Clifton was named the MVP.

On Sunday, UMaine was unable to match Toledo’s rebounding intensity. The Rockets grabbed a 34-29 edge and scored 15 second-chance points in contrast to four by the Bears.

“Rebounding is nothing more than heart and hustle and Toledo did a great job,” Blodgett told Clear Channel radio. “They wanted it more than us. It’s really just that simple.”

UMaine also was plagued by its familiar turnover woes, committing 24 in the contest. Toledo converted the miscues into 22 points.

“It’s kind of the same, old story,” Blodgett said. “We can’t allow that to happen and we do, consistently.”

Sophomore forward Brittany Boser paced the Bears with 16 points, four assists and two steals, while Rousseau connected for 16 points on 4-for-7 shooting from 3-point range.

Tewksbury tallied 13 points and five rebounds, while senior guard Kris Younan added six assists and three steals.

The Bears shot 52 percent (22-for-42) from the field, but the Rockets attempted 21 more field goals.

Clifton led a balanced attack for Toledo with 14 points and eight rebounds. Lisa Johnson provided 12 points and eight boards, while Tamesha Scotton and Nacole Stocks chipped in with 11 points each.

UMaine trailed 30-23 at halftime, but quickly got back into the game with a 10-0 run to open the second half. Boser opened the surge with two baskets from the paint, Rousseau drained a 3-pointer and Tewksbury completed a three-point play to give the Bears a 33-30 lead with 16:15 to play.

However, Toledo regrouped and kept the game close.

With the Rockets ahead 48-47, Clifton scored from the paint, Johnson hit a jumper after a turnover and Scotton made a layup in transition to give Toledo a 54-47 edge with three minutes remaining.

The Bears couldn’t get closer than four points after that.

UMaine trailed 30-23 at halftime after having committed 14 turnovers that resulted in 14 Toledo points.

The Bears, who experienced difficulty with transition defense early, also struggled defensively inside. The Rockets outscored the Bears 20-4 in the paint in the half.

UMaine got out of the gate slowly, spotting Toledo a 12-4 lead. However, the Bears responded by outscoring the Rockets 17-12 during an extended stretch and eventually got within a point at 22-21 on an elbow jumper by Rousseau.

Toledo then retaliated with an 8-0 spurt that extended the lead to nine points, before taking a 30-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In Saturday’s game, LaToya Cunningham’s desperation 3-pointer hit the back of the rim as time expired as UMaine survived a second-half rally by Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Bears built a 12-point first-half advantage and led by as many as 10 points early in the second half, but had to withstand the Hurricanes’ relentless pressure. UMaine committed 16 of its 22 turnovers after the break, but managed to maintain the upper hand.

The Bears trailed only once (19-18) in the contest and were aided by 21 Miami turnovers.

Rousseau paced UMaine with 12 points, while Tewksbury contributed 11 points and seven rebounds. Ross posted nine points and Colleen Kilmurray added seven points and eight rebounds. Younan chipped in with five points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Maurita Reid made five 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 25 points for Miami. She also made seven steals.

Carla Williams finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

A nine-point Bears lead was trimmed to two (44-42) with a 7-0 Miami surge, but a 3-pointer by Rousseau and a Kilmurray basket from the lane kept the Bears on top.

The Hurricanes made their final charge on a Reid 3-pointer at the 1:34 mark and a layup by Williams with 24 seconds remaining to make it 54-52. Albrey Grimsley then came up with a steal, but Miami missed two shots and had to settle for a Williams foul shot that cut the deficit to one point.

Rousseau was fouled with 13 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, leading to the game-ending miss by Williams.

ROCKETS 61, BLACK BEARS 57

(Sunday’s game)

Toledo (6-5) Maine (3-10)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Clifton 6 12 2 3 14 Boser 7 10 16

Scotton 5 12 1 2 11 Kilmurray 0 2

Johnson 4 10 4 4 12 Younan 1 5 2

Stocks 3 7 5 7 11 Rousseau 6 14 0 0 16

Clark 3 11 0 0 6 Tewksbury 5 13

Williams 0 1 0 0 0 Baker 0 1 0

Goodall 1 3 0 1 2 Ross 1 1 3

Heistan 1 5 0 0 3 Mosher 2 2 5

Terry 1 2 0 0 2 Vaikute 0 2 0

Totals 24 63 12 17 61 Totals 22 42 57

Toledo 30 61

Maine 23 57

3-pt. goals – Toledo (1-13): Heistan 1-5, Terry 0-1, Williams 0-1, Clifton 0-2, Clark 0-4; Maine (6-10): Rousseau 4-7, Ross 1-1, Tewksbury 1-1, Younan 0-1

Attendance: 215

BLACK BEARS 54, HURRICANES 53

(Saturday’s game)

Maine (3-9) Miami (5-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Younan 0 2 5 6 5 Reid 10 18 25

Boser 2 3 2 4 6 Clark 0 3 1

Rousseau 5 14 0 1 12 Grimsley 2 4

Tewksbury 4 8 2 2 11 Woodson 1 8 2

Kilmurray 3 9 1 2 7 Williams 5 12

Baker 0 0 0 0 0 Moore 0 1 0

Ross 3 9 1 1 9 James 0 2 0 0

Mosher 2 4 0 0 4 Drake 0 1 0

Blair 2 2 2 6

Cnninghm 0 6 0

Vsciunaite 0 2 0

Totals 19 49 11 16 54 Totals 21 59 11 53

Maine 33 54

Miami 21 53

3-pt. goals – Maine (5-20): Rousseau 2-8, Ross 2-8, Tewksbury 1-2, Younan 0-2; Miami (6-21): Reid 5-10, Vasciunaite 1-3, Clark 0-1, Grimsley 0-1, James 0-1, Woodson 0-2, Cunningham 0-3

Attendance: 483