The first day of the women’s Mid-American Conference Tournament was generally predictable.
In three of the games, the higher seed won by 13 points or more. In the fourth, No. 5 seed Ball State came from behind to beat No. 4 Northern Illinois.
Top-seeded Toledo (26-4, 19-1 MAC regular season) 80, No. 8 Ohio (15-14, 9-10) 67. Ohio stayed close for the first three quarters and trailed 58-53, but Toledo pulled away in the fourth quarter. Toledo guards Sophia Wiard and Quinesha Locket each had 19 points. Ohio’s Cece Hooks, who scored more points in her career than any other MAC player, finished with 22 points.
No. 2 Buffalo 63 (23-8, 16-4) 63, No. 7 Western Michigan (16-14, 10-10) 49. The Buffalo defense smothered WMU, allowing only nine points in the second quarter and six in the third, and forcing 18 turnovers. Buffalo guard Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 19 points.
No. 3 Akron (17-10, 13-7) trailed No. 6 Bowling Green (15-15, 10-10) 23-20 after the first quarter but dominated the rest of the game and won 81-67. Akron’s Jordyn Dawson, the MAC player of the year, had 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six steals.
No. 5 Ball State (19-11, 11-8) trailed No. 4 Northern Illinois (14-15, 11-9) by 13 points four minutes into the third quarter but came back to win 60-54. BSU held Northern to 20 points in the second half. Four Ball State players scored in double figures, led by freshman guard Ally Becki with 15.
On Friday, Toledo will play Ball State at 10 a.m. and Buffalo will play Akron at about 12:30 p.m. Both games are on ESPN+.