When it comes to basketball, everyone knows what happens in March. The crazed fans, the sold-out games, the upsets, the rivalries, and the celebrations are all part of the trip down the boulevard of broken dreams come true. As March Madness is settling into colleges across America, the Mid-American Conference will have some of its own.
The women's Kraft MAC Basketball Tournament will commence on March 4, and the women's basketball team has secured a first-round home game to start the tournament off. The third seed in the East Division, the Bulls (11-16, 5-10 MAC) will host the Toledo Rockets (9-16, 4-11 MAC), sixth-seed from the West Division.
Senior guard Brooke Meunier, the lone senior Bull and two-time MAC Player of the Week this season, will look to lead her team past the competition that lies ahead. The only remaining undefeated team in the MAC, No. 24 Bowling Green, along with the teams of Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, and Kent State all received byes in the first round and a direct ticket to the second round in Cleveland.
Along with Meunier, sophomore forward Heather Turner is another Bull to be reckoned with, topping the MAC in field goal percentage and rebounds. Turner has been named Player of the Week twice this season as well.
Toledo enters Alumni Arena suffering from a five-game losing streak. Savannah Werner is the Rockets top scorer, averaging 13 points a game.
The Rockets and Bulls will begin the first-round battle at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Here is a look at other MAC teams that will see action on Saturday, in hopes of making it to the second round in Cleveland on Wednesday:
Akron (5-22, 2-14 MAC) at Ball State (16-11, 9-7 MAC)
Akron finished as the sixth seed in the MAC East, its lone two wins were against Toledo and Miami (Ohio). Junior forward Jessie Crooks is the Zips' top scorer at 14 points per game. The Zips will play at Ball State in the first round.
The Cardinals own the third spot in the West Division, which they clinched with a win over Northern Illinois on Tuesday night, giving Ball State its second-straight third-place finish in the league. Julie DeMuth recorded 19 double-doubles this season, 10th in the MAC, the most in the league this year.
The Cardinals will tip off the tourney in a home first-round game versus Akron starting at 2 p.m.
Ohio (8-19, 5-11 MAC) at Central Michigan (16-11, 7-9 MAC)
The Bobcats suffered a loss to Buffalo last Saturday, putting them in as the fourth seed, but a win over Akron gave them home advantage for the first round this weekend.
Ohio guard Simone Redd has returned from injury to average 11.3 points per game, and freshman Rachel Frederick is the top freshman scorer at 14 points a game.
Ohio will host CMU in the first round. In their first winning season since 1992-1993, the fifth-seed Chippewas had seven wins in the conference this year, 16 overall. Chasidy Myers leads Central Michigan with 11 points a game.
The game between the Bobcats and the Chippewas is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.
Miami (Ohio) (8-19, 3-13 MAC) at Northern Illinois (11-16, 7-9 MAC)
While their MAC record isn't impressive, the RedHawks were intense in a loss to Kent State last Saturday, forcing the Golden Flashes on a 15-2 run to pull away for the win.
At 14.9 points per game, the tournament will provide Cindi Merrill the opportunity to become the first RedHawk guard to score 1,000 points and record 500 rebounds in Miami school history.
Miami will play fourth-seed NIU in the first round. The Huskies' Stephanie Raymond hopes to lead her team to victory, averaging 20 points, eight boards, and 2.5 steals in games versus Toledo and Western Michigan.
NIU looks to further its season with a win over Miami beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
