Women Kick Off the MAC Tourney - Sunday's Roundup

By Dave Wiley: SPM OH Writer
Posted Monday, March 10, 2008

The Women’s Mid Atlantic Conference kicked off Sunday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland Ohio.

Miami, Eastern Michigan, Ball State and Bowling Green earned the four top seeds and the first-round bye. That left #3 East seed Ohio taking on #6 West Seed Central Michigan, while #3 West seed Western Michigan took on #6 seed Akron in the late game. Both three seeds, Ohio and Western Michigan, advanced. Ohio won in a squeaker 68-65, while Akron was trounced 84-54 by Western Michigan.

The first game of the day, Ohio vs. Central Michigan, turned out to be a win for Ohio. They went into the locker room at halftime with a three-point lead. That halftime lead was the difference in the game, as neither team gained the upper hand in the second half.

Britni Houghton of Central Michigan led all scorers with 22. Lauren Hmeil, Lauren Kohn, and Quintana Ward each had double-figures for Ohio.

Ohio advances to play the West #2 seed Eastern Michigan at 3:00 P.M. on Tuesday, March 11th.

The second game did not offer the near the excitement of the first. East #6 seed Akron took a beating at the hands of #3 Western Michigan, losing by 30; 84-54. Western Michigan sported four scorers in double figures.

The game was pretty much decided by halftime as WM took a 26-point margin into the locker room. In addition to scoring her sixth double-double of the season, Tiera DeLaHoussaye became the school’s all-time single-season assist leader with 243 and counting, breaking a 21-year old record. Western Michigan moves on to face East #2 seed Miami on Tuesday, March 11th at 12:30.

The women see action again on Monday, with East #4 seed Buffalo taking on West #5 seed Toledo in the early matchup. The 2:30 game is Wests’ #4 Northern Illinois against Easts’ #5 Kent State.

The rest of the week for the women has four games on the slate for Tuesday, the two semi-final games on Friday during the day, and the final at 1:00 P.M. Saturday March 15th.

The Men’s side starts Wednesday and plays through Saturday. Both Men and Women’s champs will be crowned Saturday.