Ball State beat Central Michigan at home Saturday, and the MAC West is tied with two games to go.
BSU and Central are both 13-3. Northern Illinois is at 12-4 with a win at Eastern Michigan.
Kent State is 11-5 in the East and close to clinching the fourth seed. The Flashes beat Akron 73-69, but best thing that happened to them Saturday was that Bowling Green upset Buffalo in Buffalo. KSU is now two games ahead of the Bulls.
A rundown of Saturday's games:
Ball State (13-3, 20-8) 81, Central Michigan (13-3, 21-7) 73 at Ball State. BSU led by 14 after the first quarter, but Central eventually took at 57-56 lead late in the third quarter. But Ball State took the lead in the middle of the third quarter.
Junior Moriah Monaco had 20 points and joined teammates Renee Bennett and Jill Morrison in reaching 1,000 in their careers. Tinara Moore had 25 and Cassie Brown 23 for Central. Leading scorer Presley Hudson was held to four points; she had nine assists.
Bowling Green (4-12, 8-20) 64, Buffalo (9-7, 19-8) 62 at Buffalo. BG trailed by 14 in the third quarter but held Buffalo to 3 of 16 shooting in the fourth. Sydney Lambert had 18 and Carly Santoro 17 for the Falcons. Joanna Smith, Buffalo's only senior, had 25 on Senior Day.
Kent State (11-5, 17-11) 73, Akron (2-14, 9-18) 69 at Kent. Kent State led by nine going into the fourth quarter, but Akron got it to three with a minute left and missed a three-pointer than would have tied the game. Freshman guard Shaunay Edmonds had 10 points and three steals in that comeback for Akron. She finished with a career-high 26. Larissa Lurken had 28 for KSU, which won its fifth straight. Full story is on my blog at
http://wbbflashes.com.
Northern Illinois (12-4, 19-8) 81, Eastern Michigan (1-15, 6-22) 71 at Eastern. Four Huskies had more than 15 points, led by Courtney Woods with 22 (six three-pointers).
Ohio (10-6, 19-8) 77, Miami (4-12, 10-19) 63 at Ohio. Amani Burke had a career high 21 as Ohio broke a three-game losing streak.
Toledo (10-6, 19-8) 75, Western Michigan (7-9, 16-11) 67 at Toledo. Mikaela Boyd had a career-high 23 points for UT, along with 9 rebounds and 3 steals.
Standings going into the last week of the regular season:
West: Central Michigan and Ball State (13-3), Northern Illinois (12-4), Toledo (10-6), Western Michigan (7-9), Eastern Michigan (1-15).
East: Kent State (11-5), Ohio (10-6), Buffalo (9-7), Miami and Bowling Green (4-12), Akron (2-14).
Full standings are at
http://www.espn.com/womens-college-baske...onference.
Top games Wednesday look to be Central at Western and Toledo at Northern Illinois.
Saturday game stories are at
http://www.mac-sports.com/news/2017/2/25...2815.aspx.