MAC Tournament - First Round
Western Michigan Broncos (17-12, 8-10 MAC)
vs. Miami Redhawks (11-20, 5-13 MAC)
Monday, March 6, 2017, 5:30 p.m.
Kalamazoo, Mich. (University Arena)

ESPN3 - Mike Monaco (PxP) & Jessica Jessing
Radio - 1660 AM The Fan with Garrison Diehl
Live Stats - WMU.statbroadcast.com
Twitter - @WMU_WBB

WELCOME TO THE MAC TOURNAMENT
The winner of Miami at Western Michigan will earn a ticket to the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio to face top-seeded Central Michigan on Wednesday, March 8 at noon. Both team's are fresh off a win coming into the first round, with WMU defeating Northern Illinois at home and Miami defeating Bowling Green on the road. The Broncos are 20-27 in the MAC Tournament and have advanced to the quarterfinals in each of the last four years, a feat the program did not accomplish for four straight years prior to Shane Clipfell's hire. Last season, the Broncos defeated Northern Illinois in the opening round and fell to Central Michigan in the quarterfinals. 

CAN'T GET ANY CLOSER
Sophomore point guard Deja Wimby has come extremely close to a triple-double on multiple occasions this season, none more than last time out against Northern Illinois, where she went for 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to go along with six steals. On the road at Akron, she had 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Western Michigan women's basketball has never had a triple-double in school history. 

SHIPMAN'S SHOOTING STREAK
Senior Meredith Shipman has been hot as of late, hitting multiple 3-pointers in 14 straight games and 22 games this season. She is now fourth in career 3-pointers made at WMU (171) and is chasing Shelsea Erving (2011-14) for third place with 190. She finished fifth in MAC play with 49 made 3-pointers this season. 

THE MATCHUP
This will be the 67th meeting in the all-time series between the Broncos and the Redhawks, with Miami holding a 33-30 advantage. WMU has won six straight games against the Redhawks and is 16-10 when facing Miami in University Arena. WMU won the only matchup between the two earlier this season 85-60 in Oxford, Ohio where WMU's Breanna Mobley went for 13 points and 15 rebounds and Miami's Leah Purvis scored 16 points and hit three 3-pointers. The very first matchup between these two schools came in the MAC Tournament on Jan. 2, 1981. The Redhawks own a 5-4 advantage against the Broncos in the MAC Tournament, but WMU won the last matchup in the tournament at the end of the 2013-14 season 82-72. 

SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
Miami, who is coached by Cleve Wright in his fourth year, will enter this contest 11-20 overall and finished 5-13 in the MAC. The Redhawks had the No. 10 ranked scoring offense and No. 6 ranked scoring defense in the league. Freshman Lauren Dickerson comes in as the team's leader in scoring (15.7), assists (115), steals (60) and 3-pointers made (59).