# 2018 MAC women's basketball tournament

The 2018 Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament was a post-season basketball tournament for the Mid-American Conference (MAC) 2017–18 college basketball season. Tournament first round games was held on campus sites at the higher seed on March 5. The remaining rounds was held at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland between March 7–10. Central Michigan won the MAC Women's Tournament received the conference's automatic bid into the 2018 NCAA tournament.

## Format

Unlike with the recent tournaments, where the top two seeds received byes into the semifinals, with the three and four seeds receiving a bye to the quarterfinals, the tournament will revert to its original structure in which the top four seeds receive just one bye into the quarterfinals.

## Seeds

| Seed | School | Conference record | Division | Tiebreaker |
| 1† | Central Michigan | 17–1 | West | |
| 2† | Buffalo | 16–2 | East | |
| 3† | Ball State | 13–5 | West | |
| 4† | Miami (OH) | 12–6 | East | |
| 5 | Ohio | 9–9 | East | 1–0 vs. Western Michigan |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 9–9 | West | 0–1 vs. Ohio |
| 7 | Toledo | 8–10 | West | |
| 8 | Northern Illinois | 7–11 | West | |
| 9 | Eastern Michigan | 6–12 | West | |
| 10 | Kent State | 5–13 | East | |
| 11 | Bowling Green | 3–15 | East | 2–0 vs. Akron |
| 12 | Akron | 3–15 | East | 0–2 vs. Bowling Green |
| † – Received Bye to quarterfinals. Overall record are as of the end of the regular season. |||||

## Schedule

| Game | Time | Matchup$^#$ | Television |
| First Round – Monday, March 5 ||||
| 1 | 7:00 PM | #9 Eastern Michigan at #8 Northern Illinois | ESPN3 |
| 2 | 7:00 PM | #12 Akron at #5 Ohio | ESPN3 |
| 3 | 7:00 PM | #10 Kent State at #7 Toledo | ESPN3 |
| 4 | 5:30 PM | #11 Bowling Green at #6 Western Michigan | ESPN3 |
| Quarterfinals – Wednesday, March 7 ||||
| 5 | 12:00 NN | #9 Eastern Michigan vs. #1 Central Michigan | ESPN3 |
| 6 | 2:30 PM | #5 Ohio vs. #4 Miami (OH) | ESPN3 |
| 7 | 5:00 PM | #10 Kent State vs. #2 Buffalo | ESPN3 |
| 8 | 7:30 PM | #6 Western Michigan vs. #3 Ball State | ESPN3 |
| Semifinals – Friday, March 9 ||||
| 9 | 11:00 AM | #1 Central Michigan vs. #4 Miami (OH) | ESPN3 |
| 10 | 1:30 PM | #2 Buffalo vs. #6 Western Michigan | ESPN3 |
| Championship – Saturday, March 10 ||||
| 11 | 11:00 AM | #1 Central Michigan vs. #2 Buffalo | CBSSN |
| * Game times in ET. # Rankings denote tournament seed ||||

## Bracket

| First round Monday, March 5 | First round Monday, March 5 | First round Monday, March 5 | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 7 | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 7 | Quarterfinals Wednesday, March 7 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Semifinals Friday, March 9 | Championship Saturday, March 10 | Championship Saturday, March 10 | Championship Saturday, March 10 |
| | | | 2 | Buffalo | 72 | | | | | | |
| | | | 10 | Kent State | 50 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Toledo | 76 | 10 | Kent State | 50 | | | | | | |
| 10 | Kent State | 80$^{OT}$ | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Kent State | 80$^{OT}$ | | | | 2 | Buffalo | 85 | | | |
| | | | | | | 6 | Western Michigan | 53 | | | |
| | | | 3 | Ball State | 54 | | | | | | |
| | | | 6 | Western Michigan | 65 | | | | | | |
| 6 | Western Michigan | 85 | 6 | Western Michigan | 65 | | | | | | |
| 11 | Bowling Green | 71 | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Bowling Green | 71 | | | | | | | 2 | Buffalo | 91 |
| | | | | | | | | | 1 | Central Michigan | 96 |
| | | | 1 | Central Michigan | 67 | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Eastern Michigan | 64 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Northern Illinois | 77 | 9 | Eastern Michigan | 64 | | | | | | |
| 9 | Eastern Michigan | 84 | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Eastern Michigan | 84 | | | | 1 | Central Michigan | 61 | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Miami (OH) | 58 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Miami (OH) | 69 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Ohio | 66 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Ohio | 85 | 5 | Ohio | 66 | | | | | | |
| 12 | Akron | 73 | | | | | | | | | |
First round games at campus sites of lower-numbered seeds

## All-Tournament Team

Tournament MVP – Reyna Frost, Central Michigan
| Player | Team |
| Reyna Frost | Central Michigan |
| Tinara Moore | Central Michigan |
| Micaela Kelly | Central Michigan |
| Stephanie Reid | Buffalo |
| Cierra Dillard | Buffalo |