Box Score CLEVELAND- The Western Michigan women's basketball team bowed out of the 2018 Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday, falling to Buffalo in the semifinals, 85-53. The Broncos were the No. 6 seed in the tournament and posted wins over No. 11 Bowling Green and No. 3 Ball State before falling to the Bulls.

Buffalo, the No. 2 seed and MAC East regular season champion advances to face No. 1 seed and West division winner Central Michigan in the tournament championship game Saturday at 11 a.m.

It was the second straight year Western Michigan advanced to the semifinal round, one win shy of playing for a championship. With the Broncos' 65-54 win over Ball State Wednesday in the quarterfinals it also marked the second year in a row WMU upset a higher ranked team in the tournament.

Western Michigan's record moved to 18-15 overall. The Broncos will wait to see if there are any postseason invitations in store to continue the season.

Buffalo (27-4 record) scored the first six points of Friday's contest, but the Broncos fired back with a 9-0 run to briefly hold a lead. The Bulls were then able to hold the Broncos scoreless through the final six minutes of the first quarter and the first minute of the second quarter to regain control of the game. The Broncos gave a good push, sparked by junior forward Breanna Mobley, over the rest of the second quarter to only trail by eight, 32-24 at the half.

Buffalo came out strong in the second half, outscoring Western Michigan 27-12 in the third quarter to put the game away.

The Bulls' defense scored 26 points off of 23 Bronco turnovers in the game. Buffalo also outscored WMU 21-9 in second chance points and 12-0 on the fast break.

Western Michigan shot a respectable 40.4 percent from the floor but attempted 24 less shots (52) than the Bulls (76).

Mobley was the bright spot for Western Michigan, totaling 21 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Senior Najee Smith made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Emma VanZanten came off the bench to tie a career-high with 10 points in eight minutes late in the game.