2024–25 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season

The 2024–25 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season will be the season for Mid-American Conference women's basketball teams. It will begin with practices in October 2024, followed by the start of the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play will begin in January 2024 and conclude in March 2024. The 2025 MAC tournament will be held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio for the 25th consecutive season.^[1] This will be the conference's last season with 12 members as it will see its first change in membership since 2005 with the addition of UMass^[2]

2024–25 Mid-American Conference women's basketball season
League	NCAA Division I
Sport	Basketball
Number of teams	12
Regular season
2025 MAC tournament
Tournament

2024–25 Mid-American Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Buffalo	0	–	0		–			5	–	0		1.000
Ball State	0	–	0		–			5	–	1		.833
Miami (OH)	0	–	0		–			4	–	1		.800
Toledo	0	–	0		–			3	–	1		.750
Northern Illinois	0	–	0		–			3	–	2		.600
Kent State	0	–	0		–			3	–	3		.500
Akron	0	–	0		–			2	–	4		.333
Bowling Green	0	–	0		–			2	–	4		.333
Ohio	0	–	0		–			1	–	4		.200
Western Michigan	0	–	0		–			1	–	4		.200
Central Michigan	0	–	0		–			0	–	4		.000
Eastern Michigan	0	–	0		–			0	–	4		.000
† 2025 MAC tournament winner As of November 24, 2024

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Eastern Michigan

On December 11, 2023 Eastern Michigan fired Fred Castro after a 1–7 start.^[3] Ke'Sha Blanton finished the season as interim coach. On March 28, 2024, Canisius head coach Sahar Nusseibeh was named as the next head coach.^[4]

Toledo

On April 5, 2024, Tricia Cullop left the head coaching position at Toledo after winning three constitutive MAC coach of the year honors to become the head coach at Miami (FL).^[5] On April 9, 2024, Monmouth head coach Ginny Boggess was named the new head coach.^[6]

Coaches

Team	Head coach	Previous job	Years at school	Overall record	School record	MAC record	MAC titles	MAC Tournament titles	NCAA Tournaments	NCAA Final Fours	NCAA Championships
Akron	Ryan Gensler	Illinois (Asst.)	2	11–18 (.379)	11–18 (.379)	6–12 (.333)	0	0	0	0	0
Ball State	Brady Sallee	Eastern Illinois	13	373–256 (.593)	237–146 (.619)	137–73 (.652)	0	0	0	0	0
Bowling Green	Fred Chmiel	South Carolina (Asst.)	2	16–15 (.516)†	16–15 (.516)	10–8 (.556)	0	0	0	0	0
Buffalo	Becky Burke	USC Upstate	3	144–85 (.629)	31–30 (.508)	17–19 (.472)	0	0	0	0	0
Central Michigan	Kristin Haynie	Michigan State (Asst.)	2	6–22 (.214)	6–22 (.214)	4–14 (.222)	0	0	0	0	0
Eastern Michigan	Sahar Nusseibeh	Canisius	1	32–60 (.348)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0	0	0	0	0
Kent State	Todd Starkey	Indiana (Asst.)	9	308–194 (.614)	143–99 (.591)	85–59 (.590)	0	1	1	0	0
Miami	Glenn Box	Indiana (Assoc HC.)	2	73–51 (.589)	9–20 (.310)	6–12 (.333)	0	0	0	0	0
Northern Illinois	Lisa Carlsen	Lewis	10	318–302 (.513)	134–138 (.493)	77–87 (.470)	0	0	0	0	0
Ohio	Bob Boldon	Youngstown State	12	294–229 (.562)	196–141 (.582)	116–84 (.580)	2	1	1	0	0
Toledo	Ginny Boggess	Monmouth	1	54–42 (.563)	0–0 (–)	0–0 (–)	0	0	0	0	0
Western Michigan	Shane Clipfell	Michigan State (Assoc. HC)	13	243–238 (.505)	172–191 (.474)	94–124 (.431)	0	0	0	0	0

Notes:

• Appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
• Years at school includes 2024–25 season.
• MAC records are from time at current school only.
• All statistics and records are through the beginning of the season.
• †Chmiel's overall record does not include his coaching record at Feather River College and Lassen College because it is unknown to the author

Source:^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]}

Preseason

The MAC Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tip-Off will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Each team will have their head coach and a student athlete from both the men's and women's basketball team for interviews.^[19]

MAC Men's Basketball Preview Coaches & Student-Athletes MAC Women's Basketball Preview Coaches & Student-Athletes

• Akron: Head Coach Ryan Gensler & Alexus Mobley (Senior, Guard)
• Ball State: Head Coach Brady Sallee & Ally Becki (Senior, Guard)
• Bowling Green: Head Coach Fred Chmiel & Lexi Fleming (Senior, Guard)
• Buffalo: Head Coach Becky Burke & Chellia Watson (Senior, Guard)
• Central Michigan: Head Coach Kristin Haynie & Lisa Tesson (Senior, Guard)
• Eastern Michigan: Head Coach Sahar Nusseibeh & Sisi Eleko (Junior, Forward)
• Kent State: Head Coach Todd Starkey & Jenna Batsch (Senior, Guard)
• Miami: Head Coach Glenn Box & Katey Richason (Senior, Forward)
• Northern Illinois: Head Coach Lisa Carlsen & Chelby Koker (Grad., Guard)
• Ohio: Head Coach Bob Boldon & Kate Dennis (Senior, Guard)
• Toledo: Head Coach Ginny Boggess & Nan Garcia (Grad., Guard/Forward)
• Western Michigan: Head Coach Shane Clipfell & Hannah Spitzley (Grad., Guard)

Preseason women's basketball coaches poll

Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

Place	Team	Points	First place votes
1.	Ball State	120	10
2.	Kent State	104	2
3.	Buffalo	98	--
4.	Bowling Green	96	--
5.	Toledo	82	--
T6.	Northern Illinois	64	--
T6.	Ohio	64	--
8.	Miami	44	--
9.	Akron	43	--
10.	Western Michigan	34	--
11.	Eastern Michigan	23	--
12.	Central Michigan	20	--

MAC Tournament Champions:Ball State (8), Bowling Green (1), Kent State (1), Toledo (1)

Source^[20]

MAC Preseason All-Conference

Honor	Recipient
Preseason All-MAC First Team	Ally Becki, Ball State, Senior
	Amy Velasco, Bowling Green, Senior
	Chellia Watson, Buffalo, Fifth Year
	Jenna Batsch, Kent State, Senior
	Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Buffalo, Sophomore
Preseason All-MAC Second Team	Brooke Stonebraker, Northern Illinois, Graduate Student
	Erika Porter, Bowling Green, Fifth Year
	Jaya McClure, Ohio, Junior
	Madelyn Bischoff, Ball State, Senior
	Sammi Mikonowicz, Toledo, Graduate Student

Regular season

Rankings

Main article: 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

		Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Wk 19	Final
Akron	AP
	C
Ball State	AP
	C
Bowling Green	AP
	C
Buffalo	AP
	C
Central Michigan	AP
	C
Eastern Michigan	AP
	C
Kent State	AP
	C
Miami	AP
	C
Northern Illinois	AP
	C
Ohio	AP
	C
Toledo	AP
	C
Western Michigan	AP
	C

Legend

		Improvement in ranking
		Drop in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		No change in ranking from previous week
RV		Received votes but were not ranked in Top 25 of poll
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

All-MAC Awards

Mid-American women's basketball weekly awards

^[21]

Week	Player(s) of the Week	School
Nov 11[22]	Chellia Watson	Buffalo
Nov 18[23]	Amy Velasco	Bowling Green
Nov 25
Dec 2
Dec 9
Dec 16
Dec 23
Dec 30
Jan 6
Jan 13
Jan 20
Jan 27
Feb 3
Feb 10
Feb 17
Feb 24
Mar 3
Mar 10

See also

2024–25 Mid-American Conference men's basketball season

References

1. Zarrella, Tony. "MAC Tournament staying in downtown Cleveland through 2030". Cleveland 19 News. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
2. Withers, Tom (February 27, 2024). "UMass will join Mid-American Conference as a full sports member in 2025, MAC commissioner says". APNews. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
3. Paul, Tony. "EMU fires women's basketball coach, names Blanton interim coach". Detroit News.
4. Paul, Tony (2024-03-28). "EMU women's basketball lands rising star Sahar Nusseibeh as new head coach". Detroit News. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
5. "University of Miami Hires Tricia Cullop as Head Women's Basketball Coach". University of Miami Athletics. 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
6. "Toledo hires new women's basketball coach". WGTV 13. 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
7. "Ryan Gensler". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
8. "Brady Sallee". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
9. "Fred Chmiel". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
10. "Becky Burke". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
11. "Kristen Haynie". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
12. "Sahar Nusseibeh". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
13. "Todd Starkey". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
14. "Glenn Box". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
15. "Lisa Carlson". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
16. "Bob Boldon". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
17. "Ginny Boggess". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
18. "Shane Clipfell". Sports Reference. Retrieved 2024-05-15.
19. "2024-25 MAC Men's & Women's Basketball Tip-Off Show to Air on October 22". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 16, 2024.
20. "MAC Announces 2024-25 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll & Teams". getsomemaction.com. Mid-American Conference. October 23, 2024. Retrieved October 25, 2024.
21. "Women's Basketball Players of the Week".
22. "Watson Earns MAC Player of the Week Honors".
23. "Velasco Named MAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week".