KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The No. 7 seeded Western Michigan women's basketball team advanced to the second round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland with a 82-72 win over No. 10 Miami Monday evening.
Western Michigan will face No. 6 Toledo in the second game from Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday, March 12. The Rockets downed No. 11 Ohio in their first round matchup, 61-44. Tip off between WMU and UT is scheduled for 30 minutes after the completion of the No. 5 Ball State vs. No. 9 Northern Illinois noon contest.
The Broncos led start to finish against Miami and had four players score in double figures. It was WMU's third victory over the RedHawks this season, also sweeping two regular-season meetings, and the Broncos' 13th win overall.
“That was one of our most gutsy performances,” said WMU head coach
Shane Clipfell. “It may not have looked like it to the common fan but to me it was a fight and a togetherness that I haven't seen in our team in quite awhile.
“We only have one day to talk about Cleveland but we're going to talk about Toledo a lot in that day. The team knows the message that we can't win when we battle ourselves. They have acknowledged it and now we're going to try and build on our momentum.”
Western Michigan was locked in from the start and built a 15-point advantage by halftime, 44-29. The Broncos spread the ball around, as seven players reached the scoring column in the first half.
After going up by as many as 20 points with just under eight minutes remaining, WMU weathered a late run by the RedHawks, who cut the deficit to seven with 3:35 to go.
Marquisha Harris hit a pair of free throws,
A.J. Johnson knocked down a 15-footer and Harris connected from almost the same spot to push WMU's lead back into double digits.
The Broncos upped their 41.2 shooting percentage to 57.9 percent in the second half and outrebounded Miami by nine, 42-33.
Harris finished with 23 points and seven rebounds, both of which were game highs, and dished out three assists. She shot 7-for-10 from the floor and was 9-for-10 from the free throw line.
Johnson had 16 points (three 3-pointers) and six rebounds while
Jazmine Windham tallied 14 points and six rebounds. Sophomore point guard
Alex Morton had 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Miami was led by 18 points from Nicole Anderson and 15 points from Hannah Robertson. The RedHawks finish their season with an 8-22 record. WMU improved to 13-17.
