Buffalo, Fairfield and Charlotte all win conferences and secure berths

The Buffalo Bulls defeated the Ball State Cardinals 79-75 in the MAC Championship on Saturday.

The Bulls went into halftime leading 38-37 and eventually held on in the end for the close win for a tournament berth, their fourth in program history, all of which have come since 2016.

Buffalo’s leading scorers were Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley with 30 and 29 points, respectively, while Ball State’s leading scorers were Thelma Dis Agustsdottir and Ally Becki with 20 points each.

Saturday’s Other Action

The Fairfield Stags edged out the Manhattan Jaspers 73-68 in the MAAC Championship in Atlantic City.

The Jaspers had a dominant first quarter, leading 17-8 after the first ten minutes, but they weren’t able to hold on and it was all Fairfield from that point on. The Stags won each of the final three periods by at least four points.

Fairfield was led by Lou Lopez-Senechal with 24 points, while Manhattan had the game’s leading scorer in Dee Dee Davis with 35 points. This is the first time the Stags have made the NCAA Tournament since 2001.

The Charlotte 49ers won against the Louisiana Tech Techsters 68-63 in the Conference USA Championship game.

After scoring just three points in the first quarter, the 49ers managed to keep pace with and eventually overtake the Techsters for the conference title. This is the team’s second conference tournament title in program history.

Charlotte was led in that effort by Octavia Jett-Wilson with 31 points and Jada McMillian with 18 points. Louisiana Tech’s three leading scorers were Keiunna Walker with 23 points, Anna Larr Roberson with 17 points, and Salma Bates with 10 points.