BUFFALO — The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team (21-9, 10-8 MAC) will look to defend their MAC Championship from a season ago as they head to Cleveland to take on No. 2 seeded Ball State in the quarterfinals on Wednesday evening at around 5:00 pm. The game will take place inside Quicken Loans Arena as the Bulls will look to advance to their second straight MAC semifinal.
The game will air live on ESPN3 and Time Warner Cable SportsChannel which is channel 323 in the Buffalo area. The game can also be listened to on ESPN1520 AM as Matt Mattia will be on the call live from Cleveland. Mattia will be getting you set with the pregame show starting at approximately 4:30 pm.
The Bulls have advanced to Cleveland for the second straight season as they look to repeat as MAC Tournament champions. The No. 7 seeded Bulls will be the away team on Wednesday evening as they will take on the No. 2 seeded Ball State Cardinals at Quicken Loans Arena at around 5:00 pm. The Bulls and Cardinals matched up earlier this season in Buffalo with the Cardinals pulling out the 89-75 victory. The game will air live on ESPN3 or can be heard on ESPN1520 AM as Matt Mattia will be on the call. Mattia will get you ready for game action with the pregame show starting around 4:30 pm on Wednesday.
The Bulls got back to their winning ways on Monday night in the first round of the MAC Tournament as they handed the Bowling Green Falcons the 61-45 loss. The Buffalo defense was great on Monday as the Bulls forced 18 turnovers while holding the Falcons to just 32.7% shooting for the game. The Bulls improved to 17-0 on the season when holding their opponents to 59 points or less as they held their fifth opponent out of their last seven games to under 56 points. Playing in her final game in front of her home fans at Alumni Arena, senior JoAnna Smith led the Bulls with 24 points, 22 of which coming in the second half, and eight rebounds in the win. Junior point guard Stephanie Reid had another strong game as she netted 12 points, nine assists and four steals while fellow junior Cassie Oursler finished off her strong night with 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks. The Bulls were able to grab 19 offensive rebounds while winning the rebounding battle, 47-35 on the night.
This marks the 25th meeting of all-time between the two programs with the Cardinals owning the 16-8 edge over the Bulls. The two sides have gone 5-5 against one another over the last couple of seasons with the Cardinals winning the last three games. Ball State downed UB earlier this season at Alumni Arena by the score of 89-75.
This marks the third straight season that the Bulls have made it to the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals in Cleveland under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack and the fourth time overall the the Jack-led Bulls have made the trip down the 90. The Bulls pulled the improbable upset last season as they became the lowest seed in MAC Tournament history (eight seed) to win the Conference Tournament. Buffalo knocked off the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 9 seeds en route to their first MAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Last seasons run was capped by a Stephanie Reid overtime buzzer beating runner in the lane as UB defeated Central Michigan 73-71 in just the fourth overtime game in MAC championship game history.