Wednesday’s Women’s Basketball Results
Akron 70, Eastern Michigan 53
Ball State 72, Buffalo 60
Bowling Green 84, Kent State 61
Central Michigan 69, Miami 66 (OT)
Western Michigan 75, Ohio 56
Toledo 79, Northern Illinois 70
Stories Courtesy of MAC Athletic Communications Departments
Akron 70, Eastern Michigan 53
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio - Redshirt senior Shelbee Brown (Memphis, Tenn.) secured a double-double with 27 points and a career-best 19 rebounds to help the Akron women's basketball team take down Eastern Michigan, 70-53, at James A. Rhodes Arena on Wednesday (March 5).
In addition to Brown's solid performance, the Zips were led by senior Zakia Rasheed (Avon, Ind.), who had 15 points, and by senior Alexus Mobley (Indianapolis, Ind.), who added eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Brown pulled down eight offensive rebounds to pace an offense that racked up second-chance opportunities for Akron, grabbing 19 boards and turning them into 22 second-chance points.
The Akron defense held Eastern Michigan shooters to only 33.9 percent from the field, including 21.9 percent from three-point range. The Zips also kept Olivia Smith to 6-of-20 shooting in the game.
How It Happened
After falling behind 8-6, Akron went on a 7-0 run with 5:01 left in the first quarter, culminating in a three from Rasheed, to take a 13-8 lead. The Zips entered the quarter break with a 15-13 advantage. Akron did most of its first quarter damage in the paint, scoring 12 of its 15 points close to the basket.
Eastern Michigan rallied to take a 29-26 lead before Akron went on a 6-0 run starting at the 1:55 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Brown, to take a 32-29 lead, a score that held until halftime. Akron dominated in the paint, scoring 10 of its 17 points close to the basket.
Akron wasted no time building on its lead, going on a 9-0 run to expand its lead further to 41-29 with 7:07 to go in the third. Before the third period was over, the Zips added three points to that margin and entered the fourth quarter with a 55-40 edge. Akron played well near the basket, scoring 12 of its 23 points in the paint.
Akron kept its lead intact before going on a 9-0 run, finished off by Brown's layup, to grow the lead to 68-46 with 2:53 to go in the contest. The Eagles narrowed the margin, but the Zips still cruised the rest of the way for the 70-53 win. Akron took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring eight of its 15 points in the paint.
Ball State 72, Buffalo 60
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State women's basketball took sole possession of the Mid-American Conference regular season title with its 72-60 victory over Buffalo Wednesday night in Worthen Arena.
Ball State (23-7, 15-2 MAC) entered the game having already clinched a share of the MAC title for the first time since 2003 but needed the win over Buffalo (23-6, 12-5 MAC) to earn the No. 1 seed in next week's MAC Tournament in Cleveland. The Cardinals will play the No. 8 seed at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Rocket Fieldhouse. The last time the Cardinals entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed was in 2009 when Ball State won the tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, defeating Tennessee in the first round.
Both teams struggled offensively to start. The game was knotted 9-9 with 2:44 left to play in the opening quarter. The Bulls used a late 7-2 run to close out the first quarter with a 16-11 lead over the Cardinals heading into the second frame. It was uncharacteristic for Ball State as the Cardinals had made only three field goals in the first stanza.
The Cardinals still struggled at the start of the second frame to get their shots to fall. UB kept the upper hand with some nice plays under the basket that led to a six-point (22-16) advantage with 6:20 on the clock. After that, layups from Marie Kiefer and Ally Becki tied the score 25-25 with 1:24 remaining in the half. A quick bucket from the Bulls Ariana Seawell gave UB a slight 27-25 edge over BSU at intermission.
Ball State enjoyed a strong start in the third quarter, opening with a 15-10 run to take the 40-35 lead over Buffalo at the media timeout. Key baskets from Alex Richard and Kiefer helped the Cardinals to regroup from their first half shooting woes. The Bulls attempts to respond were quickly halted by the Cardinals defense. A 3-pointer from Kiefer to end the third quarter pushed Ball State's cushion to 52-40 entering the fourth stanza.
Ball State dominated the fourth frame building a 19-point cushion (64-45) with 7:18 left to play which was capped off by a trey from Kiefer. The Cardinals were pretty much unstoppable from that point forward as they were on a mission to take sole possession of its first MAC regular season title in 22 years.
For the game, Richard led the Cardinals again in scoring with 20 points while Kiefer wasn't too far behind with a double-double after tallying 19 points and 13 rebounds. Rounding out the double-figure scoring was Lachelle Austin who finished with 10 tonight.
Bowling Green 84, Kent State 61
Box Score
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Lexi Fleming scored 21 points in the first quarter on Wednesday evening (March 5), as the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team defeated Kent State University, 84-61, at the Stroh Center.
The Falcons (17-12, 10-7 Mid-American Conference) led from wire to wire, as Fleming scored 25 points to pace four players in double digits in the win. Paige Kohler had 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds, with Erika Porter and Amy Velasco scoring 13 points apiece.
Jenna Batsch had 25 points to lead the Golden Flashes (19-11, 11-6 MAC), with Tatiana Thomas adding 14 and Dionna Gray 10.
Fleming's 21-point quarter shattered the school record. She made 7-of-8 shots from the field, including a 6-for-7 performance from three-point range, in the quarter.
With the Flashes paying extra attention to Fleming, she attempted only five shots over the remaining three quarters, but dished out six assists to tie Velasco for game honors in the win.
As a team, BGSU shot 55.2 percent from the floor, and the Falcons went 12-of-25 (48%) from long distance. Kent State shot 39.3% from the field and 38.5% from the arc.
The Falcons had a 40-28 rebounding advantage in the win.
Central Michigan 69, Miami 66 (OT)
Box Score
OXFORD, Ohio — "Having such a young team, they showed tremendous mental and physical toughness. They've been down, came back and finished out some close games and we did that again tonight."
Central Michigan Women's Basketball punched its ticket into the 2025 Mid-American Conference Championship tournament Wednesday night with an overtime victory, 69-66, at Miami (OH).
"All year long, the team has played with a chip on their shoulder and have been resilient," Head Coach Kristin Haynie said. "It's an amazing feeling and I'm very proud of our players and staff."
Senior Lisa Tesson (Montreal, Quebec / Royal Crown) scored 13 points—all in the second half—to match her career high set in her freshman season, five of which were scored in overtime. The performance marked the first MAC tournament berth of her career.
She pushed the Chippewas to a two-possession lead with her third three-pointer of the night less than two minutes into the extra period, then iced the win at the free throw line with 11 seconds left.
CMU set the stage for the finale with a 15-0 run to rally from a 54-45 deficit in the fourth quarter as its defense held the RedHawks off the board for over six minutes of game time.
The effort flowed into overtime as the RedHawks did everything they could to score just six points in those five minutes.
The Chippewas had proved capable of such a run already as they mustered an 11-0 run to recover from an early 13-2 margin in the heart of the first quarter, the opposite script from their 11-4 start at Toledo on Saturday.
CMU's freshman duo, Madi Morson (Canton, Mich. / Salem) and Ayanna-Sarai Darrington (Lexington, Ky. / Frederick Douglass), settled into their respective primary roles: Morson led the scoring with 16 points, Darrington led the game with 16 rebounds.
Jess Lawson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Legacy) provided an all-around supporting performance with 12 rebounds, nine points, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Lawson and Darrington combined to push CMU to its seventh game of the season with a rebounding margin of 20 or more as it dominated the glass, 53-33.
Demetria Prewitt (Madison, Wis. / La Follette) and Taylor Anderson (South Lyon, Mich. / East) each did their part as the game unfolded. Prewitt recorded her third double-digit scoring game from the bench in MAC play (11); Anderson tallied seven rebounds to go with six points in the first 13 minutes as the Chippewas looked to settle back in from their slow start.
Central Michigan Women's Basketball will host Akron Saturday (1 p.m. ET) for Senior Day festivities, recognizing the career and efforts of Tesson. The game itself will be handled the same as the 29 before it.
Western Michigan 75, Ohio 56
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team punched its ticket to the Mid-American Conference Tournament after sinking 16 three-pointers to down Ohio, 75-56, on the road at the Convocation Center on Wednesday night.
The 16 triples are the second-most in a single game in program history. The Broncos (12-16, 8-9 MAC) shot 49 percent from the field, going 16-for-33 from behind the arc. WMU had a big advantage on the glass over OU, out-rebounding them 37-23.
Western Michigan had four players in double figures, led by Maggie Stutelberg's 18. All of Stutelberg's points came from threes, going 6-for-11. Hannah Spitzley had 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. Junior point guard Marina Asensio had 14 points, eight assists and four rebounds, while Alli Carlson had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman D'Myjah Bolds had eight points and four rebounds off the bench.
Both teams came out firing, with WMU making six threes in the opening quarter, but the Bobcats kept pace and the Broncos only led 21-20 heading into the second quarter. The hot shooting continued in the second quarter, with OU starting off with a 9-2 run to take a 29-23 lead. Western Michigan battled back with a 9-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead 32-29 with 4:41 to play. The Bobcats held WMU to just four points the rest of the quarter and headed into the locker room up 40-39.
Western Michigan got the separation it needed in the third quarter, going on a 15-2 run to start. Ohio made just two field goals in the quarter and were held to seven total points. Bolds hit a pair of free throws in the final minute to send WMU to the fourth quarter with a commanding 60-47 lead. Stutelberg opened the fourth with back-to-back threes to balloon the lead to 66-47 and the Broncos held the Bobcats at bay the rest of the way.
Toledo 79, Northern Illinois 70
Box Score
DeKALB, Ill. – Sammi Mikonowicz put her name at the top of Toledo's career minutes charts, as the Toledo women's basketball team took down Northern Illinois, 79-70 at the NIU Convocation Center on Wednesday.
The Rockets (22-6, 13-4 MAC) led from the opening minutes on and extended the lead to double-digits, which they held for much of the second half. Toledo won its third-straight game while the Huskies (13-16, 6-11 MAC) dropped their fourth decision of their last five.
With losses by Buffalo and Kent State and a win by Ball State, Toledo will be the No. 2 seed in next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Top Rocket Performers
- Sammi Mikonowicz – 19 PTS, 7-of-13 FGs, 2-of-4 3-PT FGs, 7 REB
- Kendall Carruthers – 13 PTS, 5-of-11 FGs, 3-of-4 3-PT FGs, 3 AST
- Hannah Noveroske – 12 PTS, 6-of-8 FGs, 3 REB
- Nan Garcia – 12 PTS, 3-of-8 FGs, 6-of-9 FTs, 6 REBs, 2 STL
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Toledo got out to a fast start, taking a 9-2 lead within three minutes thanks to threes from Sammi Mikonowicz and Kendall Carruthers. Northern Illinois cut the deficit to 19-15 by the end of the quarter.
- The Rockets stretched the lead to as much as nine in the second quarter, 34-25 at the 3:55 mark from a Carruthers' three. Hannah Noveroske's layup to end the half put the Rockets up seven, 38-31 at the break.
- The Rockets opened the second half with a 7-0 run in the first 2:15 to push the lead to 45-31. After NIU cut the lead to seven, the Rockets spurred to an 11-0 run for a 59-41 lead late in the quarter.
- Toledo pushed the lead to as big as 15 and never got below double-digits until the final seconds to close out the win. Mikonowicz reached the career record in the fourth quarter.