MAC Titans Battle in Championship Finale
No. 1 Central Michigan (27-4, 17-1 MAC) vs. No. 2 Buffalo (27-4, 16-2 MAC), 11:00 am ET
Watch on CBS Sports Network // Live Stats
Central Michigan
With its top two scorers held to sub-par performances, Central Michigan got superb efforts from Reyna Frost and Micaela Kelly on Friday in holding off Miami (Ohio), 61-58, in a Mid-American Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament semifinal at Quicken Loans Arena. “It’s survive and advance, and that’s exactly what we did,” CMU coach Sue Guevara said. “I just would really like to give Miami coach (Megan) Duffy big props. That Miami team has come a long way from Jan. 6 when we played them....”
Frost had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Kelly added 16 points as CMU improved to 27-4, tying the program record for victories in a season. Moore, the MAC Player of the Year, was held to seven points -- she did, however, haul down a game-high 13 rebounds -- and Hudson, who finished runner-up to Moore in league player-of-the-year balloting, had 10 points. Combined, the pair entered the contest averaging nearly 38 points per game. They were a combined six for 17 from the field on Friday. Frost finished 9 of 15 from the floor and had two blocks in 37 minutes. She did it all without committing a single foul. Frost had 14 points, 14 rebounds and matched her career high with four steals in Wednesday’s nail-biting quarterfinal win over Eastern Michigan.
“I think I was in the zone playing for my team and I don’t want to go home,” Frost said. “I think the players on the floor understand that we’ve been through (close games) six or seven times, and just know that we have people on the floor that don’t want to lose the game and we’ve got seniors and juniors on the floor that have been through it.”
“Tomorrow’s just another game,” Guevara said, repeating her season-long mantra. “I think what I’m so happy about for our team is ... in the preseason you’re picked to win it, you’re picked to win the league, you’re picked to win the west, you’re picked to win the tournament. And then for us to be able to get to where we are right now, to me says a whole lot about the focus of this team and what we’ll have to do for tomorrow. I know they’re going to be very, very excited and ready to go.”
Buffalo
After earning a 32-point victory in the MAC semifinals against Western Michigan, the Bulls will look for their second MAC Tournament Championship in the last three years as they faceoff with #1 seed Central Michigan at 11:00 am inside the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The 32-point victory in the MAC semifinals was the Bulls biggest margin of victory in any MAC Tournament game in program history. This marks the 25th meeting of all-time between the two programs with both teams winning 12 games in the series. Buffalo and CMU split two matchups this season with each team winning on their home court. Buffalo keeps adding to their program record for wins in a season as they currently have 27 victories, four more than the previous school record that stood since 1991-92. Defensively, the Bulls have forced 49 turnovers and notched 36 steals through two MAC tournament games. The Bulls have also turned those 49 turnovers into 67 points. UB has owned the fast break scoring category all season long as they have outscored their opponents 360-107 on the year. The Bulls have outscored their two opponents in the tournament 28-0 in the open court. The Buffalo offense has put up a program record 15 games this season of 80+ points. The UB offense has also scored 70+ points in 18 of their 20 games against MAC opponents this season, most in school history. Cierra Dillard was the best player on the floor for the Bulls against Western Michigan as the junior went for a team-high 17 points, six assists, six steals and three rebounds while connecting on three triples in the win.
