The 2024 MAC women's basketball tournament was the postseason basketball tournament for the 2023–24 college basketball season in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The entire tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, in Cleveland, Ohio on March 13 and 15-16, 2024.[1] Kent State defeated Northern Illinois, Ball State, and Buffalo to win their fourth MAC tournament title and first since 2002, and advance to the 2024 NCAA tournament. Katie Shumate was the tournament MVP.[2]
| 2024 MAC women's basketball tournament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Classification | Division I |
| Season | 2023–24 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Site | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, Ohio |
| Champions | Kent State (4th title) |
| Winning coach | Todd Starkey (1st title) |
| MVP | Katie Shmuate (Kent State) |
| Television | CBSSN, ESPN+ |
MAC women's basketball tournaments | |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Toledo | 17 | – | 1 | .944 | 28 | – | 6 | .824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ball State | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 28 | – | 6 | .824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kent State † | 13 | – | 5 | .722 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Buffalo | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 19 | – | 14 | .576 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling Green | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 16 | – | 15 | .516 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northern Illinois | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 15 | – | 16 | .484 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ohio | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 11 | – | 19 | .367 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Michigan | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 12 | – | 18 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Miami (OH) | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 9 | – | 20 | .310 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Akron | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 11 | – | 18 | .379 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Michigan | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 6 | – | 22 | .214 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eastern Michigan | 3 | – | 15 | .167 | 7 | – | 22 | .241 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † 2024 MAC tournament winner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Format
editAs with the 2021, 2022, and 2023 tournaments, only the top eight teams qualify. The winner of the tournament will receive the MAC's automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA tournament.[3]
Venue
editThe 2024 MAC tournament was held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for the 24th consecutive season. The venue is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA,[4] has a capacity for basketball of 19,432, and is located in downtown Cleveland at One Center Court.[5]
Seeds
editEight out of the 12 MAC teams qualified for the tournament. Teams were seeded by record within the conference, with a tiebreaker system to seed teams with identical conference records.[6]
| Seed | School | Conference record |
Tiebreaker |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toledo | 17–1 | |
| 2 | Ball State | 16–2 | |
| 3 | Kent State | 13–5 | |
| 4 | Buffalo | 10–8 | 2–0 vs. Bowling Green |
| 5 | Bowling Grenn | 10–8 | 0–2 vs. Buffalo |
| 6 | Northern Illinois | 8–10 | 1–0 vs. Ohio |
| 7 | Ohio | 8–10 | 0–1 vs. Northern Illinois |
| 8 | Western Michigan | 7–11 | |
| DNQ | Miami | 6–12 | 1–0 vs. Akron |
| DNQ | Akron | 6–12 | 0–1 vs. Miami |
| DNQ | Central Michigan | 4–14 | |
| DNQ | Eastern Michigan | 3–15 |
Schedule
edit| Session | Game | Time* | Matchup | Score | Attendance | Television | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 13 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | |||||||
| 1 | 1 | 11:00 am | No. 1 Toledo vs. No. 8 Western Michigan | 72–61 | 1,426 | ESPN+ | |
| 2 | 30 mins after Game 1 | No. 4 Buffalo vs. No. 5 Bowling Green | 70–64 | ||||
| 3 | 30 mins after Game 2 | No. 2 Ball State vs. No. 7 Ohio | 77–53 | ||||
| 4 | 30 mins after Game 3 | No. 3 Kent State vs. No. 6 Northern Illinois | 63–60 | ||||
| Semifinals – Friday, March 15 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | |||||||
| 2 | 5 | 10:00 am | No. 1 Toledo vs. No. 4 Buffalo | 74–77OT | ESPN+ | ||
| 6 | 30 mins after Game 5 | No. 2 Ball State vs. No. 3 Kent State | 50–65 | ||||
| Championship – Saturday, March 16 – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, Cleveland, OH | |||||||
| 3 | 7 | 11:00 am | No. 4 Buffalo vs. No. 3 Kent State | 60–78 | 2,292 | CBSSN | |
| *Game times in ET. ()-Rankings denote tournament seeding. | |||||||
Source[7]
Bracket
edit| Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 13, 2024 | Semifinals Friday, March 15, 2024 | Championship Saturday, March 16, 2024 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Toledo | 72 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Western Michigan | 61 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Toledo | 74 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo | 77* | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo | 70 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Bowling Green | 64 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Buffalo | 60 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 78 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ball State | 77 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Ohio | 53 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Ball State | 50 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 65 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Kent State | 63 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Northern Illinois | 60 | ||||||||||||
All-Tournament team
editTournament MVP – Katie Shumate
| Player | Team |
|---|---|
| Quinesha Lockett | Toledo |
| Chellia Watson | Buffalo |
| Rana Elhusseini | Buffalo |
| Bridget Dunn | Kent State |
| Katie Shumate | Kent State |
Source[8]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Mascitti, Carly. "'It still feels unreal': Kent State prepares for first NCAA tournament appearance in decades". News 5 Cleveland. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
- ^ "MAC eliminating and scaling back postseason tournaments". ABC News. May 12, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "About". Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "A-Z Guide". Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "Tie-Breaker Procedures". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
- ^ "2024 MAC Women's Basketball Championship". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
- ^ "Kent State Crowned 2024 MAC Women's Basketball Tournament Champions". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved March 16, 2024.