NCAA Tournament Central
2018 Women's NCAA Tournament Bracket
For the first time in Mid-American Conference history, two teams are playing in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Sweet Sixteen.
No. 11 Buffalo and No. 11 Central Michigan are not only the first MAC schools to reach the Round of 16 since Bowling Green in 2007, but they also are the first pair of teams seeded No. 11 or lower to reach the Sweet 16 since Gonzaga and Kansas in 2011.
The Bulls clinched their spot in the Albany Regional after taking down No. 6 South Florida 102-79 and No. 3 Florida State 86-65. The Chippewas claimed their spot in the Spokane Regional by defeating No. 6 LSU 78-69 and No. 3 Ohio State 95-78.
No. 11 Buffalo (29-5, 16-2 MAC) vs. No. 2 South Carolina (28-6, 12-4 SEC), 11:30 am ET
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Playing for the first time in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Bulls didn’t look fazed by the pressure or the opponent as they were able to collect the 86-65 road victory over the heavy favorite, #3 Florida State. The Bulls came out in the first quarter and imposed their will on the Seminoles as they acted as if they were the higher seed in the tournament. As a team, Buffalo shot 47.4% from the floor while holding the Seminoles to just 33.8% shooting in the win. Cierra Dillard led the way for the Bulls as she netted 22 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals while Summer Hemphill notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds against the much taller FSU squad.
Buffalo becomes just the 12th 11 seed all-time to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. No 11 seed has ever won their second round game by a bigger margin than Buffalo on Monday night with their 21-point win. The previous record was a 14-point win by Gonzaga over UCLA in 2011. Both Buffalo (21) and Central Michigan (17) beat that mark. Only one 11 seed has ever advanced to the Elite Eight and that was Gonzaga in 2011 with a 76-69 win over Louisville. Of the 32 teams that played NCAA Tournament games during the opening weekend, junior Cierra Dillard was second in the nation in scoring, averaging 29.0 points per game. Buffalo went 49-of-54 from the free throw line over the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. The 90.7% from the field was second best amongst teams that played two games, and just behind fellow MAC member Central Michigan, who shot 90.9%. The seven three pointers from Cierra Dillard on Saturday against South Florida were tied for sixth all-time in threes made during the opening weekend. Buffalo becomes just the third Mid-American Conference school to reach the Sweet Sixteen, joining this year’s Central Michigan team and Bowling Green in 2007. The Bulls are 0-1 all-time against South Carolina and 0-4 all-time against schools from the SEC. The Bulls and Gamecocks last played on Nov. 17, 2077 in Columbia, SC, a game South Carolina won, 66-54. The last time the Bulls faced an SEC team was during the 2010-11 season when they face Mississippi State at the Lehigh Christmas Classic.
No. 11 Central Michigan (30-4, 17-1 MAC) vs. No. 2 Oregon (32-4, 16-2 PAC 12), 6:30 pm ET
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Before Saturday, Central Michigan women’s basketball had never won a game in the NCAA Tournament. Now, coach Sue Guevara’s Chippewas are headed to the Sweet 16. Presley Hudson scored 28 points and the Chippewas made 52 percent of their 3-point attempts in knocking o another giant on Monday night, topping Ohio State, 95-78, in the Buckeyes’ St. John Arena in a second-round NCAA Tournament game. Two days after the 11th-seeded Chippewas toppled sixth-seeded LSU, the Chippewas took down the third-seeded Buckeyes - the Big Ten regular season and tournament champions - on the Ohio State campus. Ohio State is ranked 10th by the Associated Press, LSU is ranked 24th. The Chippewas never blinked and never backed down against either opponent. The 30 wins is a program record and the Chippewas head west after having pocketed the first two NCAA Tournament wins in program history in the past 48 hours.
This is the second meeting between the Chippewas and Ducks. CMU leads the all-time series, 1-0, versus Oregon. CMU defeated the Ducks, 73-67, in the Las Vegas Tournament on Nov. 28, 2014. The Chippewas are 2-3 in NCAA Tournament appearances. CMU won its first NCAA game with a 78- 69 victory over No. 6 seed LSU on Saturday, March 17 in Columbus, Ohio.
Seniors Tinara Moore, Cassie Breen, Aleah Swary and Amani Corley – have been a part of 87 victories (including 53 in the MAC) since arriving in 2014-15. This foursome has won or shared three MAC West titles, two overall regular-season league championships, a MAC Tournament title, the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory and has been to the Women’s NIT the past two seasons. This senior class is the winning-est group in program history. The 1982-86 senior class also complied 85 victories. The starting five – Hudson, Breen, Kelly, Moore and Frost -- has scored 90.6 percent (2,549 total points) of CMU’s 2,813 total points. Hudson has made at least one triple since March 1, 2017 (37 games). She has drained at least three 3-pointers in 24 games this season, including nine games with 5-plus triples made.
