Women's 2013 MAC Tournament preview

CLEVELAND - The MAC Women's Tournament opens up at the "Q" with one of the deepest women's fields in recent history.

Toledo is the top seed, the 24th ranked Rockets come in red hot and looking for a little revenge after getting knocked out in last years semi finals. Toledo has dominated the league this season and is led by one of the best point guards in the league in Naama Shafir. The senior from Hoshaya,Israel is a joy to watch run the floor and is one of the most electrifying players in the league.

Ball State is the surprise team in the league this season and they are the number two seed under new head coach Brady Sallee who has done a tremendous job with the squad he has inherited led by freshman of the year Nathalie Fontaine.

Ball State could matchup with Akron in the semifinals. The Zips are coming off a record breaking year winning 20 games for the first time in program history under head coach Jodi Kest and led by Player of the Year Rachel Tecca out of Akron Hoban H.S. Tecca has been a remarkable story returning from a season ending knee injury last year, only to come back and lead the league in scoring at better then 19 points a game. The Zips lead the league in offense and love to score in bunches.

Central Michigan is the fourth seed. the Chippewas are the second highest scoring team in the league under head coach Sue Guevara. The Chips could be on a colission course to face Toledo, a team they beat during the regular season CMU was just second away from advancing to the NCAA tournament last year, only to lose on a shot at the buzzer. Central is led by Sophmore double/double machine Crystal Bradford. Bradford led the league in double/doubles and was one of the MAC's top scorers. Central loves to run and will make life miserable for those who can't keep up.

Bowling Green is the fifth seed and has long ruled the MAC as one of the leagues top teams. Long time head coach Curt Miller left in the offseason and longtime assistant Jennifer Roos took over and has got the Falcons playing some of their best basketball heading into tournament play. Crissy Stefan and Alexis Rogers can take over a game and could see Central in a quarterfinal matchup.

Miami comes in as the sixth seed and is as good as any of the top five thanks to guard Courtney Osborn who is one of the leagues most exciting players. Osborn, a senior along with the leagues top rebounder in Kirsten Olowinski have been one of the best one-two punches in the MAC this year, a potential semi final match with Akron could produce one of the tournaments best games.

The action begins Wednesday at noon.

Follow Mike Cairns during the MAC Tournament on Twitter @MikeCairns5