No. 1 Seed Toledo Faces No. 8 Buffalo in MAC Tournament Quarterfinals

Wednesday, March 8

Cleveland, Ohio

11:00 a.m.

University of Toledo

No. 8 Buffalo

No. 1 seed Toledo brings a 13-game winning streak into Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup vs. No. 8 Buffalo.

Photo by: Haley Boehm

No. 1 Seed Toledo Faces No. 8 Buffalo in MAC Tournament Quarterfinals

3/6/2023 4:11:00 PM | Women's Basketball

2023 MAC Tournament Bracket (PDF)

Rockets and Bulls will tip off at 11:00 a.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

TOLEDO, Ohio – The 2023 Mid-American Conference Tournament begins on Wednesday morning with the No. 1 seed Toledo Rockets facing the No. 8 seed Buffalo Bulls at 11:00 a.m. at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

For more information about the 2023 MAC Tournament, fans can visit utrockets.com/MACTournament to learn more about tickets, pregame festivities, and more.

2023 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 -- Quarterfinals
Game 1: No. 1 Toledo vs. No. 8 Buffalo, 11 AM ET (ESPN+)*
Game 2: No. 4 Kent State vs. No. 5 Northern Illinois, Time TBA (ESPN+)*
Game 3: No. 2 Bowling Green vs. No. 7 Eastern Michigan, Time TBA (ESPN+)*
Game 4: No. 3 Ball State vs. No. 6 Akron, Time TBA (ESPN+)*

Friday, March 10th, 2023 -- Semifinals
Game 5: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 10 AM ET (ESPN+)
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, Time TBA (ESPN+)*

Saturday, March 11th, 2023 -- MAC Championship
Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 11 AM ET (CBS Sports Network)

*Minimum 30 minutes between completion of prior game in the session

Last Time vs. Buffalo: Feb. 8, 2023
In the lone meeting this season between Toledo and Buffalo on Feb. 8 at Savage Arena, the Rockets won 91-73.

The Rockets led for nearly the entire game and turned in one of their best offensive performances of the season. They cracked the 90-point barrier for the third time and assisted on 23-of-31 field goals while committing a season-low five turnovers. Toledo was 15-of-33 from beyond the arc, the most made threes in a game since sinking 16 vs. Akron on Jan. 14, 2015. The five turnovers were the fewest since committing just three vs. Charlotte on March 30, 2011.

Quinesha Lockett was terrific vs. the Bulls, scoring 25 points while sinking a career-best seven three-pointers. Lockett's seven threes were one off the program's single-game record of eight, which is held by four different players. She stuffed the box score against UB, also adding six rebounds, four assists, and two blocks. Sophia Wiard contributed 19 points, seven assists, and five rebounds while committing zero turnovers.

Rocket Notes

Toledo's 25 wins this season coupled with 29 victories last year are tied for the most wins in back-to-back years in program history (54). UT won 25 games in 2009-10 and 29 games in 2010-11. The MAC record for most combined wins is 58 by Bowling Green (28 in 2005-06, 31 in 2006-07).
The latest AP Top 25 poll came out on Monday and Toledo maintained its position, appearing in the "received votes" section with eight points in the poll.
The Rockets' 13-game winning streak is tied for fifth-longest in school history and is the longest since winning 15 games in a row during the 2012-13 season.
Toledo led the MAC in averaged attendance for the 32^nd straight season this year, averaging 4,178 fans per game at Savage Arena. The Rockets also rank 24^th nationally in average attendance, third among mid-major teams, only trailing Gonzaga (5,016) and New Mexico (4,925). UT has ranked in the Top 30 nationally in average attendance in 10 of the last 11 years.
The Rockets are 39-4 over their last 43 games vs. MAC competition. That total includes last year's MAC Tournament and last season's WNIT win vs. Kent State.
UT was 14-1 at home this year. Under head coach Tricia Cullop, Toledo has now won at least 11 home games 11 times over the past 15 seasons.
The Rockets have reached the 90-point benchmark three times this year, the most 90-point games since the 1998-99 season.

About Buffalo
Buffalo enters Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup with a 12-15 record and riding a three-game winning streak. The Bulls had lost 10 of 11 games prior to posting an impressive 84-66 victory at Bowling Green on Feb. 25. That win sparked their modest winning stretch, which also includes wins over Akron and Western Michigan. Buffalo ranks fourth in the MAC in scoring defense (65.0 PPG) and boasts one of the top scorers in the league. Re'Shawna Stone ranks fourth in the MAC in scoring (17.3 PPG) and was named MAC Player of the Week on Monday. In MAC play ranks second in scoring (20.3 PPG), fourth in field goal percentage (52.6%) and three point field goal percentage (42.7%) and fifth in assists per game (3.9 APG).