Mid-American Conference

Note: Game stories are courtesy of home sports information departments

Western Michigan Advances To Cleveland With Win Over Akron

The fourth-seeded Broncos improved to 17-11 overall, while the 13th seeded Zips end their season with a 2-26 record.

It was a day of historic feats for Western Michigan. As a team, WMU earned its largest win in MAC tournament history (41 points) and scored 100 points for the first time in program history. WMU also connected on the most free throws (38) in school and MAC Tournament history. On the individual side, sophomore guards Maria Jilian and Casey Rost each earned impressive individual achievements. Rost scored her 1,000 career point on Saturday in her 59th career game, faster than any other player at Western Michigan . Jilian moved to fourth in MAC history on the single season steals list, creating seven on the day to reach 111 for the year.

Western Michigan got off to a blazing start, scoring the first 19 points of the game. WMU forced 11 Zip turnovers before Akron got on the board at the 12:44 mark. The Zips responded to the early whole, however, cutting the Western Michigan lead to 31-25 with 4:52 remaining in the half. WMU eventually took a 37-30 lead to the locker room.

The second half saw the Bronco offense erupt, scoring a season-high 64 points in a half. After Dominique Harris hit a three-pointer on Akron's first possession of the second half to cut the lead to four, WMU went on a 25-4 run to break the game wide open. The Broncos hit 19-27 from the floor in the final 20 minutes, good for a blistering 70.4 percent clip. Kristin Koetsier, who had a quiet first half, scored 17 points in the second half. Rost went 5-5 from the floor and 3-3 from the foul line. She earned her 1,000 point on a free throw with 12:48 remaining.

The Broncos finished the day shooting 53.7 percent from the floor, connecting on 29-54 attempts. Akron made 23-61 shots, good for 37.7 percent. The key stat of the day proved to be turnovers, where Akron totaled 29 compared to just 11 for WMU. Western Michigan's fine free throw shooting continued, as the Broncos connected on 38-45 from the foul line, good for 84.4 percent. WMU will face fifth-seeded Kent State in the MAC Quarterfinals Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland. Game time is 3 p.m.

Kent State Ends Ohio's Season With 83-60 Decision Over The Bobcats

Kent State started the game with a 7-0 run in the first 2:40, but the Bobcats hung around and led by four points on two different occasions in the first period. Kent State took a lead it would never relinquish at the 3:22 mark when senior Valerie Zona (Cranberry, Pa./Seneca Valley) connected on two free throws. That would start a 13-0 run that ended with a jumper by freshman Tiffanie Hager (Bidwell, Ohio/Gallia Academy) at 1:02. Kent State extended the lead out to 16 at the half on a three-pointer by Zona and two free throws by Kollat.

For the second straight game, Kollat had an excellent first half, scoring 16 points and grabbing four rebounds in the opening half. The Golden Flashes held Ohio to eight field goals in the first half, with Candace Bates hitting three three-pointers for 11 first-half points.

Ohio would get no closer than 12 points in the second half as the Golden Flashes slowly pulled away. Another 11-0 run in the second half gave Kent State a 67-44 lead with 8:36 left. The Golden Flashes went 14-of-26 in the second half (.538) for the 23-point win.

Kollat, who tied a career-high in points March 4 against the University at Buffalo, broke that mark with the 24 points tonight. She also led the team with nine rebounds. Zona scored 17 points and senior Jamie Rubis (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) added 13. Kent State was one assist of a season-high as senior Morgan O'Hara (Wichita, Kan./Northwest) had eight assists and Rubis added six.

Ohio ends its season at 9-19 and was led by Bates with 19 points.

"I was pretty happy with the way we won the game tonight, much like the Buffalo game the other night," Kent State head coach Bob Lindsay said. "We rebounded the ball well on the defensive end, and I thought we dominated the inside play physically. To me, that was the difference in the game."

Kent State will now have a 3 p.m. date with the Broncos at the Gund. Western Michigan defeated Kent State 73-58 in the first conference game of the year Jan. 8.

Buffalo Advances To Cleveland Behind Career Night From Martin

The Alumni Arena crowd of 1,031 saw Buffalo advance to the second round ­ at Cleveland's Gund Arena ­ for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. The Bulls (18-10), seeded sixth, will play the third-seeded Ball State Cardinals (18-8) at 7:30 pm on Wednesday night at the Gund.

Martin set new career-highs with a monstrous game of 22 points and 18 rebounds, while McMeeken-Ruscoe hit 8-of-9 shots from the floor, en route to 19 points, and added a career-best six steals to make sure Buffalo advanced. Martin kept Buffalo in the game in the first half with 14 points and eight rebounds as the Chippewas (11-17) seemed poised to pull an upset, going to intermission tied with Buffalo, 30-30.

However, the Bulls made sure this game didn't have any late-game drama with an incredible 19-0 run to start the second half, including holding the Chippewas without a field goal for the first 8:37 after intermission. Central's Lindsay Mecoli hit a three-point shot that cut the Buffalo lead to 49-35 to break the drought, but that would be as close as CMU would get as UB eventually led by as many as 23 points (65-42) on a jumper by junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/W. Bloomfield) with 4:08 left.

More impressive was the fact that UB won going away without second-leading scorer and leading rebounder Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) , who sat out with a concussion suffered Tuesday versus Kent State.

"At the pre-game meal I had each of the seniors address the team," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "Rachel talked about how important it was to her to not end her career tonight and also get Jessica another game in her season. She came out and she was just possessed. We knew we had the size advantage inside and that's what we needed to do.

"Rachel took it upon herself to take those minutes and play extremely well," said Dozier. "At the half we talked about reversing the ball, getting a little movement and then getting it into the post, and then the 19-0 run to start the second half...I don't know if I've ever had a team go on a run like that. That was all created by our defense."

Buffalo's defense had 12 steals on the night, led by McMeeken-Ruscoe's six, and forced the Chippewas to shoot 5-for-28 (17.9%) in the second half with a stifling zone defense.

The Bulls needed all of Martin's points in the first half, as Central came out with an upset in mind, going on a 10-2 run to take its largest lead (20-12) with 10:06 remaining in the half. The Bulls, however, used a 9-1 run ­ with five points coming from freshman Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) ­ to tie the game at 21-21. Central eventually pulled back in front 30-27, but another freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads), who had seven assists in the game, hit a trifecta with :05 left to leave the teams tied at intermission.

"We really felt like with the way Rachel played in the first half and Hollie's three at the end of the half that we had the momentum going into the second half," said Kilpela. "We made a couple of adjustments on defense at halftime and just focused on finding their shooters."

Sophomore Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) also had a solid game for Buffalo, with nine points, four rebounds and four assists. Now Buffalo gets ready for Ball State, who defeated Buffalo 62-47, in the previous meeting.

"They're a very athletic team, but I felt like we let one slip away in the first game," said Dozier. "We have to make sure we come out and play defense and limit our turnovers. If we do that we'll have a chance to be successful.

Eastern Michigan gets Revenge In 66-54 Win Over Bowling Green

Sophomore guard Ryan Coleman paced the Eagles with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Abby Wiseman added 17 points and nine rebounds, and Melis Ulker chipped in with 11 points. Bowling Green was led by Francine Miller with 21 points and nine rebounds and Stefanie Wenzel was the only other Falcon in double figures with 11.

EMU jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game but the Falcons came back to gain a 13-8 lead at the 11:23 mark. The Eagles came right back and went on top, 24-22, with 2:08 left in the first half and Eastern closed out the first half with a 26-24 lead. The teams traded baskets through the first six and a half minutes of the second half before Eastern posted a quick 7-0 run to take 44-37 lead with 12:23 remaining. The Falcons would battle back to pull within two points, 53-51, with 5:55 left, but EMU closed out the final six minutes on a 13-3 run to capture the 12-point victory.

Marshall Upsets Northern Illinois 70-58 To Post First MAC Tournament Win

Ida Dotson had 14 points and Amy Reed added 11 points plus 12 rebounds as the Thundering Herd avenged a regular-season loss (81-74 on Jan. 25), improving to 12-16 on the season. Lindsay Secrest (Bloomfield, IN) led all scorers with 21 points in a losing effort as Northern Illinois fell for the fourth time in five games, ending the season at 12-16 overall.

"This game is the best example of the importance of doing the little things," Northern Illinois coach Carol Hammerle lamented. "We didn't control the offensive boards. That was the difference in the game. They could throw up whatever shots they wanted and then get second and third chances."

Marshall used a 12-2 run to take command, holding the Huskies to just a Secrest jumper over a 4:40 span. Nadia Swanigan's rebound putback gave the visitors a 61-51 advantage with 5:14 to play and Northern Illinois could get no closer than six points the rest of the way. NIU climbed to within 64-58 on Kristan Knake's (Marengo) jumper at the 2:42 mark but Shepard-Hall scored the games final six points.

Three Huskies scored in double figures in the opening half as Secrest's 11 points were supported by ten apiece from Knake and Jennifer Youngblood (Rock Island), helping NIU build a 37-32 lead at intermission. The margin grew to nine points (41-32) when Secrest converted Knake's pass for a lay-up 1:14 into the second half before Marshall answered with a nine-point run to even the contest on Swanigan's three-footer in the lane.

"In the second half, we were doing some good things and were able to get a nine-point lead. That's when (Marshall) elevated their game and we didn't respond," Hammerle added. "We didn't adjust. We're a defensive team and we didn't complete plays, allowing them multiple opportunities at the basket. They were very physical and we didn't handle it well at all."

Northern Illinois clung to a 44-41 advantage but Dotson capped a six-point flurry to put the Herd ahead 47-44 with 12 minutes to play. Secrest's fourth three-pointer of the night tied the score at 49-all before Marshall seized command with its decisive run. Half of MU's next 12 points came on second-chance opportunities.

Marshall set a Convocation Center record with its 49 rebounds (19 offensive), dominating the glass by a 49-31 count including a 28-14 advantage in the final 20 minutes when the Herd outscored Northern Illinois 38-21. MU's Amy Smith also logged a "double-double" with ten points and 11 rebounds with Catie Knable corralling ten more caroms for the visitors, who shot 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field and turned the 19 offensive rebounds into 25 points.

Secrest finished five-of-nine from three-point range for Northern Illinois, matching her 21-point output from the regular-season meeting. Knake---playing her 113th and final game as a Huskie---recorded her third career "double-double" with 14 points and ten rebounds.

Knake also handed out five assists for Northern Illinois, becoming only the fourth player in NIU history with 1,200 markers plus 300 set-ups and 200 steals. She finished her career with 1,257 points, 301 assists and 211 thefts, joining Gena Stubbs (1985-89), E.C. Hill (1991-94) and Amanda Reese (1995-99) in that elite group.

Youngblood added 13 points and nine rebounds for NIU, but the Huskie bench produced zero points and four rebounds, while the MU reserves tallied 20 points and 18 boards. Northern Illinois shot only 31 percent (nine-of-29) from the field in the final 20 minutes and finished at 37.3 percent (22-of-59) for the game.

"This has been a very frustrating year," Hammerle said. "Coming in, my expectations were very high, but then we lost Jamie Wilson and Elizabeth Strobel before the season started and Kim Boeding missed most of the conference schedule. Those were all factors. We needed more help off the bench. We began relying too much on our starting five and didn't get production off the bench."

The victory marks MU's first triumph in conference tournament play since re-joining the MAC in 1997-98. It is also the Herd's first in eight games all-time against Northern Illinois.

Marshall advances to quarterfinal action versus top seed University of Toledo at 1 p.m. Wednesday (March 12). The Gund Arena schedule that day also features fourth-seeded Western Michigan University facing fifth seed Kent State University plus No. 2 seed Miami University versus seventh-seeded Eastern Michigan University while third seed Ball State University meets No. 6 seed University at Buffalo.