The Mid-American Conference women's basketball tournament is the postseason single-elimination tournament for the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference (MAC). The winner of the tournament receives the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. As of the next MAC tournament in 2021, the top eight teams in conference play will qualify for the tournament. The tournament final (among other rounds) has been held in Cleveland since 2000, starting with Public Hall before moving to Rocket Arena in 2001 to match the men's basketball tournament, where it has been since.

Format On May 12, 2020, the MAC announced a series of changes to its competitive format in multiple sports in response to fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic; these changes took effect in the 2020–21 school year and will remain in place through at least 2023–24. With respect to men's and women's basketball, the MAC abandoned its divisional format for a single league table, increased the conference schedule from 18 to 20 games, and reduced the conference tournament field to 8. All qualifying teams will continue to play at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, and the men's and women's tournaments will continue to run concurrently.

Through the 2020 edition, canceled in progress due to COVID-19, the tournament involved all 12 conference members. In 2019 and 2020, the top four seeds received byes into the quarterfinals; all other teams started play in the first round at campus sites. The survivors of these games joined the top four seeds in Cleveland for the remainder of the tournament. This structure was used in the MAC men's tournament from 2016 to 2020.

From 2012 to 2018, the No. 1 and 2 seeds earned a "double-bye" to the semifinals, with the No. 3 and 4 seeds beginning tournament play in the quarterfinals. Teams seeded 5–12 had to play an additional two rounds, beginning with campus-site games in the first round. All other games were at the venue now known as Rocket Arena, which has served as the regular host for the men's tournament since 2000. When the MAC adopted this format, it abandoned a former practice of awarding the top two seeds to its divisional winners. Teams were (and still are) seeded based on conference record, regardless of their place in their division — though no division champion was seeded lower than fourth.

In the previous tournament format, teams were seeded per division by conference record using a series of specified tiebreakers when necessary. The top two seeds in each division received byes into the quarterfinals.

Starting in 2021 only the top eight teams qualify and the entire tournament has been played in Cleveland.

Yearly results From 2006 to 2009, the tournament was seeded per division (West, East) by conference record. Year Champion Score Runner-up Tournament MVP Location1982(1) Miami58–56(3) Northern Illinois none Irving Gymnasium1983(3) Central Michigan78–73(1) MiaminoneMillett Hall1984(1) Central Michigan 71–65(3) Toledo Latanga Cox, Central MichiganRockford MetroCentre1985(2) Western Michigan 73–63(1) Central Michigan Tracy Wells, Western MichiganCentennial Hall1986(1) Ohio92–85 (OT)(3) Central MichiganCaroline Mast, OhioRockford MetroCentre1987(1) Bowling Green63–62(2) Central Michigan Stephanie Coe, Bowling GreenCentennial Hall1988(1) Bowling Green 70–53(2) Western Michigan Jackie Motycka, Bowling Green Centennial Hall (first round on-campus)1989(1) Bowling Green 90–51(2) Toledo Paulette Backstrom, Bowling Green1990(3) Bowling Green 84–63(1) Miami Angie Bonner, Bowling GreenCobo Arena (first round on-campus)1991(1) Toledo 93–66(2) Central Michigan Dana Drew, Toledo1992(1) Toledo 78–57(3) Kent State Dana Drew, Toledo1993(1) Bowling Green 96–68(3) Kent State Lori Albers, Bowling GreenBattelle Hall (first round on-campus)1994(1) Bowling Green 74–63(2) Toledo Michelle Shade, Bowling Green1995(2) Toledo79–65 (OT)(4) Miami Angela Drake, ToledoDana Drew, ToledoSavage Hall (first round on-campus)1996(2) Toledo 73–66(1) Kent State Mimi Olson, ToledoSeaGate Centre (first round on-campus)1997(1) Toledo88–64(2) Kent StateMimi Olson, Toledo1998(1) Kent State 64–56(3) Toledo Dawn Zerman, Kent State1999(1) Toledo 65–50(2) Kent State Kim Knuth, Toledo2000(1) Kent State 74–60(3) Toledo Julie Studer, Kent StatePublic Auditorium (first round on-campus)2001(1) Toledo74–65 (OT)(2) Kent State Kahli Carter, ToledoGund Arena (first round on-campus)2002(1) Kent State 73–59(2) Ball State Andrea Csaszar, Kent State2003(4) Western Michigan 81–76(3) Ball State Casey Rost, Western Michigan2004(2) Eastern Michigan 65–56(4) Bowling Green Ryan Coleman, Eastern Michigan2005(1) Bowling Green 81–75(2) Kent State Kate Achter, Bowling Green2006(1E) Bowling Green 64–38(2E) Kent State Ali Mann, Bowling GreenQuicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) 2007 (1E) Bowling Green 67–53 (1W) Ball State Carin Horne, Bowling GreenQuicken Loans Arena 2008 (2E) Miami 67–56 (3E) Ohio Amanda Jackson, Miami 2009 (1W) Ball State 55–51 (1E) Bowling Green Tracy Pontius, Bowling Green 2010 (1) Bowling Green 62–53 (2) Toledo Lauren Prochaska, Bowling GreenQuicken Loans Arena (first round on-campus) 2011 (2) Bowling Green 51–46 (5) Eastern Michigan Lauren Prochaska, Bowling Green 2012 (3) Eastern Michigan 72–71 (5) Central Michigan Tavelyn James, Eastern Michigan 2013 (4) Central Michigan 86–68 (3) Akron Crystal Bradford, Central Michigan 2014 (3) Akron 79–68 (5) Ball State Rachel Tecca, Akron 2015 (1) Ohio 76–64 (6) Eastern Michigan Kiyanna Black, Ohio2016 (8) Buffalo 73–71 (OT) (2) Central Michigan Stephanie Reid, Buffalo2017 (6) Toledo 82–71 (4) Northern Illinois Mikaela Boyd, Toledo2018 (1) Central Michigan 96–91 (2) Buffalo Reyna Frost, Central Michigan2019 (4) Buffalo 77–61 (2) Ohio Cierra Dillard, Buffalo2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemicRocket Mortgage FieldHouse2021 (2) Central Michigan 77–72 (1) Bowling Green Micaela Kelly, Central Michigan2022 (2) Buffalo 79–75 (5) Ball State Dyaisha Fair, Buffalo2023 (1) Toledo 73–58 (2) Bowling Green Quinesha Lockett, Toledo 2024 (3) Kent State 78–60 (4) Buffalo Shumate Katie, Kent State2025 (1) Ball State 65–58 (2) Toledo Ally Becki, Ball State Rocket Arena2026 (1) Miami 68–58 (6) Toledo Amber Scalia, Miami2027 2028 2029 2030

Performance by school School Tenure Championships Championship years Bowling Green 1982–present 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011 Toledo 1982–present 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2017, 2023 Central Michigan 1982–present 1983, 1984, 2013, 2018, 2021 Kent State 1982–present 1998, 2000, 2002, 2024 Miami 1982–present 1982, 2008, 2026Buffalo 1999–present 2016, 2019, 2022 Western Michigan 1982–present 1985, 2003 Eastern Michigan 1982–present 2004, 2012 Ohio 1982–present 1986, 2015 Ball State 1982–present 2009, 2025 Akron 1993–present 2014 Northern Illinois — UMass 2026–present — Marshall —

Former conference members shaded in ██ silver

See also Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament

References