No. 6 Ball State 94, No. 11 Central Michigan 81 -- Four players scored
20-plus points, led by 21 from both freshman Tamara Bowie and sophomore
Shala Crook, as sixth-seeded Ball State rolled to a 94-81 win at home
over 11th-seeded Central Michigan Monday in Muncie. The Cardinals'
Christy Jones and freshman Laurie Kitts each contributed 20 points
apiece, while Jones added a game-high 13 rebounds.
Vershaun Jones paced Central Michigan with 21 points, while senior
Shelly Woods added 15 points. The Chippewas finished the season with a
9-19 record.
Ball State, which improved to 16-12 on the season, will face
third-seeded Toledo in a quarterfinal game Thursday at 9 p.m.
No. 8 Buffalo 72, No. 9 Akron 55 - Buffalo shot 58 percent in the second
half and used a 15-2 run to vault past Akron, 72-55, in Buffalo. Mari
McClure scored a game-high 22 points, while junior Tiffany Bell and
freshman Tara Perrier each contributed 13 points in the win.
Cheryl Bowles led Akron with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Angela
Tylec came off the bench to add 12 points.
The Bulls, who snapped a five-game losing streak, will face top-seed
Kent in the opening quarterfinal game at 1 p.m. on Thursday. Buffalo
improved to 18-10 on the year, while the Zips finished with an 11-17
mark.
No. 5 Eastern Michigan 67, No. 12 Northern Illinois 65 - Eastern
Michigan's starting guard tandem of Kristy Maska and Stephanie Smiley
combined for 31 points as the Eagles held off Northern Illinois, 67-65.
The win for the Eagles improved their mark to 15-13 on the season, while
the Huskies finished with a 6-22 mark.
EMU, which advances to face fourth-seeded Miami at 3:30 p.m. on
Thursday, had a balanced scoring attack, in addition to Maska's and
Smiley's combined 31 points. Senior Amy Crickard had nine points, while
Abby Wiseman and Jessica Henry had eight points each.
Northern Illinois had four of its starters reach double digits in
scoring, paced by 18 points from freshman Kristan Knake. Michelle
Johnson and Kelli Ryan each scored 12 points for the Huskies, who shot
42 percent from the floor.
No. 4 Miami 78, No. 13 Marshall 68 - Miami freshman Heather Cusick tied
a career-high with 23 points and senior AuBree Hamilton added 12 points
and 11 rebounds as the RedHawks held off Marshall for a 78-68 win.
With the game tied at 2-2, Miami went on a 17-0 run early in the contest
for a 19-2 lead, and built as high as a 25-5 advantage before Marshall
was able to pull within 11 points. The RedHawks then ended the half,
building a 17-point cushion.
The RedHawks, who improved to 16-11 on the season, posted its first MAC
Tournament victory since 1997. Marshall, meanwhile, played in its
first-ever MAC postseason game and ended the year with an 8-20 record.
The Thundering Herd was paced by Yashico Stevens' 16 points. Toni
Patillo also added 13 points for Marshall, which lost for the third time
this season to Miami.
No. 7 Bowling Green 84, No. 10 Ohio 70 - Bowling Green's Francine Miller
scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the second half and helped the
Falcons to an 84-70 home win over Ohio. Angie Farmer had 17 points and
Dana Western and Jaymee Wappes each chipped in 11 points for the
Falcons, who improved to 11-16 on the year.
Bowling Green, which defeated the Bobcats for the third straight time
this year, built a halftime lead of 46-33 behind eight first-half
three-pointers. With 12:30 minutes remaining in the opening stanza and
holding a 19-10 lead, the Falcons used a run of 15-8 over the next three
and a half minutes to open up a 16-point lead. BG began the second half
by netting the first nine points and broke open the contest to lead by
as many as 22 on two different occasions, before the Bobcats closed to
within eight with 6:24 left. The Falcons then scored the next four
points and closed the door on Ohio, which ended the season with an 11-17
record.
Ohio was paced by Cathy Szall's 20 points, while Jacquie Negrelli added
19 points, six assists and four steals.
The Falcons, which shot 53 percent from the floor, forced 23 Bobcat
turnovers and commanded a 36-28 advantage on the boards. BG moves on to
the quarterfinals and will face Western Michigan, the second seed, at
6:30 p.m. on Thursday.