CLEVELAND, Ohio – The number eight seed Western Michigan women's basketball team will begin postseason play in the Mid-American Conference Tournament versus the number one seed Toledo Rockets Wednesday, March 13, at 11:00 AM. The game will take place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and will be streamed on ESPN+. 

The Broncos return to the MAC Tournament Wednesday after a one year hiatus of postseason play led by graduate student Kaitlyn Zarycki, who is fresh off of earning All-MAC Second Team and MAC All-Defensive Team honors. Zarycki paces the Broncos with shooting splits of 52/50/86 (field goal, three point, & free throw percentage) while averaging 18.6 points per game, 1.9 steals per game, and grabbing 4.7 rebounds per contest. Ending the regular season on a high note, Zarycki averaged 18.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 three-pointers per game on a 57.2% clip from distance over the final 11 games of the 2023-24 season. 

During the first round of the tournament, the Brown and Gold will look to lean on their defensive prowess against the Rockets. The defensive front for WMU is captained by Zarycki (56 steals) and the senior duo of Gabi Saxman (43 steals) and Hannah Spitzley (32 steals). As a group, the trio has led WMU to the second fewest points allowed per game (65.4 points per game) on average over the past seven seasons. With the help of the three Broncos, the women's basketball team limited opponents to 30.5% from three (ranked fourth in the MAC), and allowed the fewest three pointers in the conference on defense with an average of 5.5 per game. 

On Wednesday, the Brown and Gold will make their 35th appearance in the MAC Tournament and will look to capture their first tournament win since 2020: The Broncos defeated Bowling Green 84-67 in the first round of the MAC Tournament on Monday, March 9, 2020, during a 5 seed (WMU) versus 12 seed (BGSU) matchup in Kalamazoo.  

For all things WMU women's basketball, make sure to follow the team on Instagram @wmu_wbb, Twitter @wmu_wbb, and Facebook @westernmichiganwomensbasketball.