Rockets Face MAC Semifinal Test Against No. 3 Seed Buffalo on Friday

Friday, March 14

Cleveland, Ohio

12:30 p.m.

University of Toledo

Buffalo

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Sophomore Kendall Carruthers and the Rockets are in the MAC Tournament semifinals for the fourth-consecutive season.

Photo by: Jacob Peters

Rockets Face MAC Semifinal Test Against No. 3 Seed Buffalo on Friday

3/13/2025 11:59:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Toledo looks to advance to MAC Tournament championship game for second time in last three seasons

TOLEDO, Ohio – The No. 2 seed Toledo women's basketball team will play for a trip to the Mid-American Conference championship game when the Rockets take on No. 3 seed Buffalo in the semifinals of the MAC Tournament on Friday, March 14 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland. Tipoff will be 30 minutes following the Ball State-Kent State matchup (approximately 12:30 p.m.) and will be carried on ESPN+, WCWA 1230 AM and The Varsity Network app.

The Rockets (23-7) will play in the semifinals for the fourth-consecutive season. Buffalo (25-6) will play in its second-consecutive semifinal. Friday will be a rematch of last season's semifinal matchup, where Buffalo held off a late Toledo comeback for a 77-74 OT victory.

Toledo enters the contest winners of 11 of its last 13 games. Toledo defeated No. 7 seed Central Michigan, 76-58 in the quarterfinals, out-scoring the Chippewas 44-16 over the final 17 minutes. Sammi MIkonowicz led with 18 points while Nan Garcia added 16 on 4-of-6 from downtown.

The Bulls advanced to the quarterfinals in a 65-63 nailbiter against No. 6 seed Bowling Green. Chellia Watson scored 27 points on 11-of-22 shooting and made the game-winning basket with 10 seconds to play.

Toledo won both regular-season contests by three points, with a 58-55 victory at UB on Feb. 5 and a 71-68 home victory on Feb. 26. Toledo leads the all-time series, 30-10 and is 5-1 all-time against Buffalo in the MAC Tournament.

Toledo (23-7, 13-5 MAC) vs. Buffalo (25-6, 13-5 MAC)
Friday, March 14 | 12:30 p.m. ET* | Cleveland, Ohio/Rocket Arena | Live Stats | Tickets
*Start time subject to change

WATCH: ESPN+ (Dave Bacon and Jacki Windon)
LISTEN: The Varsity Network/WCWA 1230 AM (Jim Heller)

All-Time: Toledo, 30-10
Last Meeting: Toledo 71, Buffalo 68 – Feb. 26, 2025, Toledo, Ohio

Three-Point Shooting Shines Against Central Michigan

To spur its second-half quarterfinal comeback against Central Michigan, Toledo shot 13-of-23 for a season-best 56.5% from three-point range, including a blistering 8-of-12 mark from three in the second half.
Nan Garcia set a season high and tied her career best with four three-pointers.
Khera Goss scored all three of her field goals from deep, while Sammi Mikonowicz and Kendall Carruthers each knocked down a pair from distance.

Rockets in the MAC Tournament

Toledo looks to win its 10th MAC Tournament title and second in three years this week.
The Rockets have played the semifinals in each of the last four seasons, and win would advance Toledo to its second tournament final in that span.
UT is a top-two seed for the fourth-consecutive season (No. 1 seed the previous three years).
Toledo's senior class of Jessica Cook, Nan Garcia, Khera Goss, Sammi Mikonowicz and Hannah Noveroske holds a 6-2 record in MAC Tournament games.
Toledo is 5-1 all-time in MAC Tournament games against Buffalo.

Rebounding Rockets

The Rockets out-rebounded CMU, 37-33 in Wednesday's win, including by a 22-14 margin in the second half.
Toledo ranks 28th in the country with a +6.8 rebounding margin.
The Rockets have out-rebounded 21 of their last 24 opponents dating back to Dec. 6.
Mikonowicz entered the tournament eighth in the league with a 6.3 rebounding average.

Of Note

Toledo is 10-6 away from Savage Arena and 3-1 in neutral-site contests this season.
Sammi Mikonowicz is fifth in the MAC with a 51.9% shooting percentage while Khera Goss is eighth at a 49.4% clip. Goss is also sixth with a 40.0% three-point percentage while Kendall Carruthers is eighth at 38.1%.
Carruthers is seventh in free throw percentage at 82.3% while Mikonowicz is eighth at 82.1%.
Hannah Noveroske is 10th in the league with 0.7 blocks per game with 17 overall.
As a team, Toledo's field goal percentage of 45.4% is second in the MAC and 37th in the country. Toledo has shot at least 50% in nine games this season, including a season-best 62.8% in the Feb. 26 triumph against Buffalo.
Head Coach Ginny Boggess is 5-2 all-time in conference tournament games between the MAAC (0-1), CAA (4-1) and MAC (1-0). She is coaching in the fourth conference tournament of her career.