Women's Championship Features East Division Rubber Match
- Ohio and Buffalo last met at the MAC Tournament in the 2016 quarterfinals. The Bulls claimed the W, 72-60 and later won the tournament title.
- The Bobcats are making their 4th appearance in the Championship Game, the most recent in 2015 when they defeated Eastern Michigan, 60-44.
- UB is making their third trip to the tournament finals, the latest being last year in a 91-96 heartbreak to Central Michigan.
Buffalo (23-9, 12-6 MAC)
The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team upset top-seeded Central Michigan, 82-77, to advance to the Mid-American Conference championships game for the second straight season. Cierra Dillard scored a game-high 30 points and Summer Hemphill tied a career-high with 24 points and nine rebounds to pace the Bulls. Central Michigan went on a mini 4-0 run early in the third quarter to take a 34-30 lead at the 8:36 mark but the Bulls respond in a big way breaking off a 9-2 run, capped by a Dillard and-one and a Dillard-to-Hemphill transition bucket, to retake the lead 39-36 at the 6:46 mark and force a CMU timeout. Later, a Hemphill jumper and another Dillard and-one gave UB a 45-41 lead at the media timeout. Buffalo continued to pour it on out of the media, using another 6-0 run capped by a Courtney Wilkins three, to take a 51-41 lead at the four minute mark. A Micaela Kelly three cut the lead to 53-46 but Hall answered with her first triple of the day to put UB back up 10 with 2:40 to go in the third and the Bulls would maintain a 62-53 lead at the end of the third. UB shot a blistering 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the floor, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and 8-of-9 from the charity stripe, in the third.
Ohio (28-4, 14-4 MAC)
Led by a second-straight double-double from redshirt freshman forward Erica Johnson and 16 points from sophomore guard Cece Hooks, the second-seeded Ohio women’s basketball team (27-4), defeated third-seeded Miami (23-8), 74-48, in the Mid-American Conference Semifinals on Friday afternoon (March 15) inside Quicken Loans Arena. The win advances the Bobcats to the MAC Championship game against fourth-seeded Buffalo on Saturday at 11 a.m. It is the first time since 2015 the Bobcats will play for the MAC title. Ohio was led by MAC Freshman & Sixth Player of the Year Johnson, who scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, going 6-of-9 from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. She also dished out a team-high three assists. Hooks (MAC Defensive Player of the Year), finished with 16 points, going 7-of-13 from the field. Hooks also added four rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Amani Burke finished with 12 points, while sophomore forward Gabby Burris and freshman forward Deesh Beck both finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
