MAC Women's Basketball Release
Women's Basketball Statistics
What You Need to Know...
- Ohio is one of seven NCAA Division I programs undefeated this season.
- Central Michigan is receiving votes in the AP Poll and USA Today's Coaches Poll after knocking off No. 24 Miami on the road.
- Four programs are ranked in this week's collegeinsiders.com Mid-Major Poll. Ohio, Central Michigan and Buffalo respectively fall 5, 6, 7 - while Toledo appears at 23rd. Miami and NIU are also receiving votes.
- The MAC heads into league play ranked as the eight conference in the nation based on average NCAA RPI Rankings. (Jan. 3, 2019).
MAC Basketball Team-by-Team Notes
Akron junior point guard, Shaunay Edmonds, led the offensive efforts for the Zips en route to Akron’s ninth non-conference win. The guard dazzled the crowd with 13 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Edmonds helped Akron earn a 9-2 non-conference record.
The last time
Ball State opened MAC action at Toledo was on Dec. 31, 2016, resulting in a 51-45 victory for the Cardinals. In six seasons, Ball State head Coach Brady Sallee owns a 4-2 record in MAC openers. Ball State and Toledo first meeting ever was in 1980-81 that year the Cardinals defeated the Rockets by a score of 63-47.
Bowling Green had a perfect 4-0 record in the month of December, and the Falcons outscored the opponents by an average of 17.3 points per game. Senior Sydney Lambert scored a game-high 18 points in the Falcons’ win over Davis & Elkins on Sunday (Dec. 30). Her final two points of the game came on a foul-line jumper with 8:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, and put her over the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Buffalo will play its third consecutive game home at Alumni Area as they open up Mid-American Conference play against the undefeated Ohio Bobcats. The contest will mark the 40th meeting all-time between the MAC rivals, with the Bulls holding the series advantage, 21-18. The Bulls hold a 12-5 series lead when playing the Bobcats at home, and currently are 6-1 in the last seven meetings with Ohio dating back to 2016. Buffalo is coming off of a 90-43 rout over Big-4 rival St. Bonaventure.
Central Michigan is fresh off a 90-80 victory over 24th-ranked Miami (Fla.) in the Miami Holiday Classic on the Hurricanes’ home court. The Chippewas went 4-2 in nonleaguers this season against teams that made the 2018 NCAA Tournament, defeating Miami, Virginia, Western Kentucky & Quinnipiac and falling to South Dakota State (71-80) and No. 3 Louisville (68-72).
Eastern Michigan wrapped up the non-conference season with a 53-39 win over Northwood University, Dec. 30, to move to 7-4 on the year. The Eagles held an opponent below 50 points for the fifth time this season and held NU to the eighth-worst field goal percentage in Convocation Center history.
Kent State has won four straight games to conclude the best non-conference season since going 9-3 in 2010-11. Kent State put an exclamation mark on 2018 with a dominant wire-to-wire 92-38 victory over Clarion on New Year’s Eve. The Golden Flashes are 17-20 all-time in MAC openers, including an 11-8 mark at the M.A.C. Center.
Miami only allowed 29 points against Ohio Dominican in a 74-29 win on Saturday, Dec. 29, tying the all-time low in program history in points allowed. The all-time series between the RedHawks and NIU is tied with each team owning 19 victories. Last season, Miami opened MAC play with a 67-65 win against the Huskies and later took the series with a 77-62 win in DeKalb.
NIU went 8-4 in non-conference play, posting a perfect 6-0 record at home. The Huskies closed the 2018 calendar year with a 109-102 double overtime win over Brown on Dec. 31. Monday’s win marked the first time NIU scored over 100 points in back-to-back games since the 1992-93 season. NIU has the second-highest scoring offense in the MAC, averaging 83.4 points per game.
Ohio is one of only seven teams are left undefeated in Division I play this season. Ohio is ranked in both the ESPN Mid-Major Poll and the College Insider Mid-Major Poll. Ohio is ranked No. 5 in both polls. Ohio is the highest ranked MAC team in the College Insider Mid-Major Poll while CMU is No. 6 and UB’s No. 7.
Toledo has been pegged to finish second in the ultra-competitive MAC West Division, while BSU has been picked fifth, according to a preseason vote of the league’s 12 head coaches and their respective athletic communication directors. The Rockets are 22-15 (.595) all-time in MAC openers, including an 11-5 (.688) ledger when beginning league action at home.
Western Michigan closed out the 2018 calendar and its non-conference schedule with a 75-51 victory over Saginaw Valley State on Monday, Dec. 31 at University Arena. WMU’s 75 points were a season-high while recording a season-best 28 field goals made. Saturday’s contest will mark the 68th all-time matchup between Western Michigan and Bowling Green, with the Falcons owning a 35-32 series advantage.
