MAC Tournament Women Down To Final Four

By Dave Wiley - SPM Ohio Writer
Posted Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The women will finally get a break after paring the field down to four on Tuesday. Twelve teams started Sunday morning with aspirations of winning the tournament; only Miami, Toledo, Bowling Green, and Ohio remain.

Of those four, Toledo comes in as the Cinderella. Toledo entered the tournament tenth out of twelve teams playing. A # 5 seed from the East, Toledo faced off against West #1 seed Ball State and won 65-60. Toledo sported a 14-15 record coming into the tournament, but did not feel any jitters about being there despite a losing record. Their tenacious defense kept Ball State in check throughout the contest.

Toledo also demonstrated impressive numbers, shooting 49+ percent from the floor against the top team from the West. Their path to the finals won’t get any easier as they face East #2 seed Miami on Friday at noon. Toledo is the only West team left in the field of four.

Miami advanced to the semi-finals after knocking off Western Michigan 65-60. Both teams suffered poor shooting in the first half, then heated up in the second. Neither team could build a substantial point advantage throughout the entire contest, as the lead changed hands multiple times, even down the stretch.

Miami’s free throws proved the difference, going 13-17 down the stretch to pull off the five-point victory.

The other semi-final will pit two Eastern teams, Bowling Green and Ohio. Ohio will have their work cut out for them, since the Bowling Green women entered the tournament the clear cut favorites.

Ohio got to the semi-finals by pasting Eastern Michigan 76-62. Eastern Michigan was never really in the game. Down by as many as 18 at one point, they did mount a rally to bring the game to within five, but Ohio took control back and won by 14. Ohio will be hard-pressed to prevent that kind of run against Bowling Green.

Finally, Bowling Green waltzed into the final four, handily beating the Kent State women 85-57. BG went into halftime with a 24-point lead. While Kent tried to climb back early in the second half, Bowling Green was just too strong. After the performance, BG definitely showed why they are the favorite.

Women’s play resumes Friday, March 14th with the Finals on Saturday. At stake is a bid to March Madness.