Women's Basketball Clashes for a Spot in the MAC Championship Game
No. 1 Central Michigan (26-4, 17-1 MAC) vs. No. 4 Miami (21-9, 12-6 MAC), 11:00 am ET
ESPN3 //
Live Stats
Central Michigan survived a late Eastern Michigan charge on Wednesday, emerging with a 67-64 victory in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal game at Quicken Loans Arena. CMU’s lead was a seemingly comfortable 13, 62-49, with just over three minutes to play in the game, when Eastern made a charge. The Eagles twice pulled to within one, the second time with 41 seconds left. Reyna Frost hit two free throws with 19 seconds to play for the final margin, and the Eagles’ Danielle Minott’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed. “Well, I guess it’s March, and it’s survive and advance,” CMU coach Sue Guevara said. “Hats off to Eastern Michigan, they gave us everything that we almost didn’t handle, but we handled it down the stretch.” All five CMU starters finished in double figures, accounting for 65 of CMU’s points. Tinara Moore had 17 points, Cassie Breen and Frost had 14 apiece, and Micaela Kelly and Presley Hudson had 10 each. Frost finished with 14 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season and the 29th of her career. Moore had eight rebounds. The Chippewas finished 12 of 16 from the free throw line, including five of six in the fourth quarter. Frost made all four of her free throw attempts in the final 54 seconds, and was good on all six of her attempts in the game.
Miami is making their first semifinal appearance in 10 years, when the Red & White topped Toledo, 70-66, in 2008 before beating Ohio in the MAC Championship, 67-56. With Wednesday’s quarterfinal win over Ohio, MU has now earned victories in 11 of its last 12 games to eclipse 21 wins on the year so far. Last time out, LAST TIME OUT: Lauren Dickerson poured in 23 points while Savannah Kluesner posted a double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds) as Miami topped rival Ohio, 69-66, in the quarterfinal round. The victory moved the RedHawks to 3-0 against the Bobcats this season. Miami overcame a slow start offensively and finished the contest shooting 41.1 percent from the floor, including 26.7 percent from long range. Ohio shot 38.7 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from three. The difference in the contest came at the free throw line, where Miami converted 19 times to OU’s eight, and on the glass as the ‘Hawks outrebounded the Bobcats, 44-30.
No. 2 Buffalo (26-4, 16-2 MAC) vs. No. 6 Western Michigan (18-14, 9-9 MAC) 1:30 pm ET
ESPN3 //
Live Stats
Buffalo
After defeating Kent State in the quarterfinals, the Bulls will take on #6 Western Michigan on Friday afternoon around 1:30 pm in the MAC semifinals. The Bulls are making their third straight appearance in the semifinals. This marks the 24th meeting between the two programs in history with the Bulls holding the slim 12-11 edge in the series. Buffalo is 5-2 against the Broncos over the past seven matchups as they claimed the 71-49 victory over the Broncos earlier this season in Buffalo. Buffalo keeps adding to their program record for wins in a season as they currently have 26 victories, three more than the previous school record that stood since 1991-92. UB placed a program record three players, Stephanie Reid, Cassie Oursler and Cierra Dillard, on the Second Team All-MAC as announced on Tuesday. Prior to this season, UB never had more than one second team member. The Buffalo offense has put up 14 games this season of 80+ points, tying the school record that was set in 1996-97 for 80+ scoring games in a season. The UB offense has also scored 70+ points in 17 of their 19 games against MAC opponents this season, most in school history. Buffalo currently sits at #19 in the latest RPI poll, marking the highest ranking the Bulls have ever received this late in the season. UB is also the highest ranked mid-major program in the country.
Western Michigan
The No. 6 seeded Western Michigan women's basketball team defeated No. 3 seed Ball State, 65-54, in the Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday. It is the second-straight year WMU has upset a higher seed in the quarterfinals, also knocking off No. 1 seed Central Michigan last year. Western Michigan's win over Ball State snapped a six-game losing streak to the Cardinals, dating back to 2015. Entering the game, WMU had just four wins against Ball State in the previous 20 meetings. Senior Najee Smith buried four three pointers and finished with a team-high 14 points. Mobley tallied 13 points and six rebounds. Junior point guard Deja Wimby recorded a point-assist double-double for the fourth straight game, racking up 12 points, 10 assists and three steals. Senior Marley Hill made two three-pointers and had 10 points and eight rebounds. WMU ended the game shooting 39.6 percent from the floor and made a season-high 10 three-pointers.
