CLEVELAND, Ohio – No. 1 seed Toledo squares off against No. 4 seed Buffalo in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland on Friday (10:00 a.m./ESPN+).
Toledo (26-4) made it to the semifinals by defeating No. 8 seed Western Michigan 72-61 on Wednesday while Buffalo (18-12) knocked off No. 5 seed Bowling Green 70-64.
Toledo defeated Buffalo 67-63 at home on Jan. 27. The Rockets survived a 47-point outburst by the Bulls' Chelia Watson, who set the Savage Arena record for the most points scored in any game (men's or women's).
Quinesha Lockett and Sammi Mikonwicz each scored 14 points for the Rockets, who trailed by three points early in the fourth quarter before rallying.
Buffalo gave Toledo its toughest game in last year's tournament, taking the quarterfinal game to overtime before the Rockets pulled out the 75-74 win in overtime. Lockett made 5-of-7 three-pointers and had 19 points in the victory, while
Nan Garcia added 17 points on 8-of-10 from the field. Toledo took the lead in the extra session on a pair of free throws from
Jayda Jansen with 14.5 seconds left. Following a timeout, Buffalo's Re'Shawna Stone drove to the basket and Lockett tied her up on the shot, forcing a held ball. Buffalo retained possession but its final shot attempt missed the mark, giving the Rockets the victory. The Rockets went on to win the MAC Tournament and advance to the Big Dance.
Toledo leads the all-time series vs. Buffalo, 26-9, and has won the last four meetings.
In Wednesday's win over WMU, Lockett scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half to rally Toledo to victory. The Midnight Blue and Gold trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half and was down 42-32 at halftime before outscoring Western Michigan (12-18) 40-19 in the final 20 minutes to win its 14
th-consecutive game.
Lockett was joined in double figures by
Sophia Wiard,
Sammi Mikonowicz, and
Khera Goss, who each scored 12 points. Mikonowicz had all 12 of her points in the second half, including six points in a decisive 17-4 Toledo run to open the fourth quarter. WMU opened the game by hitting 4-of-5 from three-point range and eventually built a 38-25 lead with 2:37 left in the first half.
NOTES
- Toledo's 14-game winning streak is tied for the seventh-longest in the country and is its longest since winning a school-record 17 in a row last season.
- Toledo has won the MAC Tournament crown nine times.
- Toledo's all-time record in the MAC Tournament is 60-28, the most wins of any MAC school.
- The Rockets are 84-15 (.848) since the start of the 2021-22 season.
