THE MATCHUP
No. 6 Western Michigan (16-14, 9-9 MAC)
vs. No. 11 Bowling Green (11-18, 3-15 MAC)

Series Record – WMU trails, 30-35
Date / Time – March 5, 5:30 p.m.
Location – Kalamazoo, Mich. (University Arena)

BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPN3
Radio – 1660 AM The Fan, Aaron Coyle
Live Stats – wmubroncos.com/livestats
Twitter Updates - @WMU_WBB

MAC TOURNAMENT DOUBLEHEADER
The Western Michigan men's and women's basketball teams will play host to the first round of the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament Monday, March 5 inside University Arena. Women's Basketball clinched the No. 6 seed and will host No.11 seed Bowling Green at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Men's Basketball will also be the No.6 seed hosting No. 11 Akron at approximately 7:45 p.m.  

Tickets can be purchased at the Bronco Ticket Office, online at wmubroncos.com/tickets or by calling 1-888-4-WMU-TIX. Those who purchase tickets to the women's game can redeem their ticket stub for a free upper level ticket for the men's game.


ROAD TO CLEVELAND STARTS MONDAY
The winner of today's first round game between No. 5 Western Michigan and No. 11 Bowling Green advances to the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament and will play No. 3 Ball State on Wednesday, March 7, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Time is TBA. Bowling Green and WMU have faced each other seven times in the MAC Tournament, the Falcons own a 4-3 all-time advantage.

SERIES NOTEBOOK
This will be the 66th meeting between the Broncos and the Falcons, with Bowling Green owning a 35-30 all-time advantage. The Broncos have won seven straight in the series, dating back to 2015. Western Michigan won the regular-season meeting this year in Bowling Green, 81-67. WMU junior Breanna Mobley had a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, while classmate Deja Wimby had 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Freshman Jordan Walker recorded her first collegiate double-double on 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

SCOUTING REPORT
Junior Breanna Mobley is averaging 16.1 ppg and 8.3 rpg, both of which lead Western Michigan and rank in the top 10 in their respective categories in the MAC. Fellow junior Deja Wimby is also scoring in double figures with 11.6 ppg and leads WMU with 167 assists and 64 steals. She is also chipping in 4.8 rpg. Senior Marley Hill is averaging 10.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg and has a team-high 24 blocks. As a team, the Broncos are averaging 70.1 ppg and allowing 66.8 ppg defensively. WMU is shooting 42.1 percent from the field.

BGSU is led by junior guard Carly Santoro with 12.5 ppg and 8.7 rebounds, both of which are team highs. Junior forward Sydney Lambert is the next highest scorer at 9.9 ppg, followed by Andrea Cecil with 8.6 ppg and Haley Puk with 8.5 ppg. The Falcons average 63.3 ppg and allow 71.0 ppg. They are shooting 36.6 % from the floor.

WMU IN THE MAC TOURNEY
Western Michigan is 22-28 all-time in the MAC Tournament and 7-5 under head coach Shane Clipfell. The Broncos have won two MAC Tournament championships in their history (1985, 2003). Last season as the No. 8 seed, WMU defeated No. 9 Miami in Kalamazoo in a first round game, 73-66 and upset No. 1 seed Central Michigan in Cleveland in the quarterfinals, 67-63. The Broncos were eliminated by No. 4 seeded Northern Illinois in the semifinals, 83-55.

LAST TIME OUT
Western Michigan closed out the regular season with two wins, also defeating Eastern Michigan at home Wednesday, 74-66. WMU's 19-point win over Northern Illinois was its largest margin of victory over a MAC opponent this season. Four players scored in double figures for the Brown & Gold and WMU outrebounded the Huskies, 37-27. Junior Breanna Mobley poured in 18 points in the second half, including 14 in the third quarter, on her way to a career-high 28 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds and had a career-high five blocks. Freshman Jordan Walker tied her career high with 16 points for the second straight game and pulled down eight defensive rebounds. Junior point guard Deja Wimby had a double-double for the second straight game with 14 points and 11 assists.

WIMBY DROPPING THEM IN, DISHING THEM OUT
Junior point guard Deja Wimby led the Broncos to a pair of wins this past week, helping the Broncos break out of a four-game losing streak and secure the No. 6 seed and a first round home game in the MAC Tournament. Wimby recorded point-assist double-doubles in each game, averaging 12.5 points, 11.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game. Of the 159 points scored by WMU in the two games, at least 71 of those ran through Wimby as she tallied 25 points in the two games and her 23 assists led to no fewer than 46 of her teammates' points. In Wednesday's 74-66 victory over Eastern Michigan, she tallied 11 points, a career-high 12 assists, seven rebounds and five steals. Her 12 assists were the most by a Bronco since Taylor Manley handed out 15 against Miami in 2011. On Saturday at Northern Illinois, she helped the Broncos to their largest MAC victory of the season as WMU downed NIU by a 19-point margin, 85-66. It also gave the Broncos' their first season sweep against the Huskies since 2015. Wimby had a double-double for the second straight game with 14 points and 11 assists, while adding three rebounds and a steal. Her 167 assists this season are a career high and rank third most in the MAC this season.

SENIORS SET RECORD
WMU's five seniors: LaTondra Brooks, Aneisha Carlisle, Marley Hill, Alexis Parks and Najee Smith became the program's all-time winningest class this past Wednesday with WMU's win over Eastern Michigan. It was the 71st career win for the group, passing the 1978 and 1981 seniors who both tallied 70 wins as a class. With a win over Northern Illinois on Saturday, the seniors have 72 total victories to date.