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Part one of the Great Buffalo Chip semifinals saw the Buffalo women defeat #1 seed central Michigan in an exciting rematch of last years Mid American Conference title game.
The teams traded runs most of the day with UB going up by 14 points in the 3rd quarter, the Bulls appeared poised to route the regular season Champions.
But Central Michigan made adjustments late in the third and stifled UB. They neded the 3rd on a 5-0 run and then built on that in the fourth.
They sung the big deficit to a four point lead with five minutes left in the game.
UB then fought back until a Cierra Dillard layup and one gave the Bulls a lead. Afte that it was a beautiful corner three from Hannah Hall that put Buffalo up more than one score.
Hall also added to clutch free throws to extend UB’s lead to six points with ten seconds left.
So whats next?
Buffalo will move on to play the winner of the Ohio vs Miami game coming up this afternoon. A win would give the Bulls their second MAC title in four years. But this Q1 win over CMU probably secures UB a spot in the NCAA tournament regardless of what happens this weekend, the Bulls were already on the bubble.
Central is almost certainly going to land an at large bid this season. The Chip, Bulls, and Ohio have all been talked about as teams who are either safe or on the Bubble.