The Buffalo women’s basketball team will make its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in a place familiar for UB basketball programs going to their first dance: Columbus, Ohio.
The Bulls (20-13, 8-10 Mid-American Conference) were awarded a No. 14 seed in the Sioux Falls Region and will face No. 3 seed Ohio State (24-7, 15-3 Big Ten) for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Columbus, Ohio. The men’s team made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in Columbus last season.
The game will take place at Ohio State’s St. John Arena, as the higher seed hosts NCAA Women’s Tournament first round games.
Buffalo enters the tournament after an improbable MAC Tournament run in which it upset the conference’s top-two seeds Ohio (24-6, 16-2 MAC) and Central Michigan (22-10, 14-4 MAC). Buffalo defeated the Chippewas in the MAC Championship game after a buzzer-beater from sophomore guard Stephanie Reid, who was named MAC Tournament MVP.
Although this will be Buffalo’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament, it won’t be its first postseason appearance. The Bulls were awarded a Women’s National Invitation Tournament bid after last season and would eventually lose 84-61 to West Virginia in the first round.
Ohio State enters the field as the No. 9 team in the nation. The Buckeyes received an at-large bid after losing to No. 16 Michigan State (24-8, 13-5 Big Ten) 82-63 in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals.
Tipoff for Friday’s game is set for 2:30 p.m. The game will be aired on ESPN2.
Quentin Haynes is the co-senior sports editor and can be reached at quentin.haynes@ubspectrum.com. Follow him on Twitter at @HayneTheWriter.
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
