Trophy Time! RedHawks Claim MAC Tournament Crown

Saturday, March 14

Cleveland, Ohio

11 a.m.

Miami University

28-6,16-2MAC

Toledo (MAC Championship)

17-15,9-9MAC

Toledo

Miami (OH)

Trophy Time! RedHawks Claim MAC Tournament Crown

3/14/2026 11:59:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score MAC Tourney Champs Shop Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2 Photo Gallery 3

The Miami University women's basketball team scored the first 16 points of the game and led start-to-finish to claim the MAC Tournament championship with a 68-58 win over Toledo Saturday, earning a berth in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

CLEVELAND, Ohio— The celebration was loud. Glenn Box net

But the celebration was also quiet.

There were so many smiles.

And maybe even more tears.

In the hour after the top-seeded Miami University women's basketball team took down Toledo 68-58 to win the MAC Tournament championship, everyone seemed to process the moment in their own way.

Head coach Glenn Box was shouting from the top of a ladder as he cut down the final piece of the championship net.

"LET'S GOOOOOO!!!"

But just a few minutes earlier, point guard Tamar Singer was balancing the scissors in one hand and her cell phone in another, connected to her parents in Israel for one of the most meaningful FaceTime calls of her life -- as a family living through wartime and the everyday threat of bombs and missiles got to enjoy the brief respite of one of their daughter's greatest athletic accomplishments. Tamar Singer

A fleeting glance around Rocket Arena showed a kaleidoscope of other scenes and stories, all unfolding simultaneously. Amber Scalia and Núria Jurjo were dancing. Associate head coach Ben Wierzba stared up at the confetti with his hands on his head. Amber Tretter lugged the precious trophy back and forth from photo op to photo op, trying unsuccessfully to juggle her All-Tournament award, championship medal and phone to capture every memory possible.

Through it all, one person didn't even seem to be paying attention to the hubbub around the rim. Ilse de Vries, the 6-foot-3 Netherlands native who played a game-high 38 minutes and finished with 17 points, slipped over to the bench by herself and made her own phone call to parents on the other side of the globe.

de Vries held her piece of the net and championship medal and listened as her parents told her how proud they were, even from 4,000 miles away. And proud they should be: Some of what de Vries did Saturday morning shows up on the stat sheet, such as knocking a trio of three-pointers. Some does not, including how incredibly difficult she made things for Toledo with her length and wingspan.

Of course, de Vries' long arms came in handy after the final buzzer as well: She was the RedHawk elected to take the victory selfie as plenty of other cameras snapped away relentlessly.

(To be fair, it wasn't long before the jubilant Miami players found an even taller player to take over selfie duties and relieve de Vries of those responsibilities: five-time NBA champion Ron Harper, who began his professional career in Cleveland and had been a fixture courtside over the past few days of tourney play to root on the Red and White.)

de Vries wasn't the only post player filling up the stat sheet for the RedHawks Saturday. It's impossible to forget Tretter, who was the focal point of Miami's offense down the stretch just like she's been the face of the team (and its heart and soul) for the past three winters.

Tretter put up 19 points in the second half alone en route to a trademark double-double (while producing a clutch 9-for-11 showing at the foul line) and had an answer every time the Rockets made a run.

The junior forward kept a surprisingly straight face for the first few minutes of the postgame celebration. Tretter, who has been a fixture in the Miami starting lineup from a nine-win season as a freshman (Box's first year at the helm) until now, was all business.

Then she saw strength coach James Carsey.

He was crying.

And all of a sudden, so was she.

"It's been a long time coming – and he's been here since day one," Tretter said. "He's been the one pushing us every day through the hardest workouts.

"[He's a] big man, teddy bear – great guy…just seeing him and how he's been here…I'll remember that."

"We spent a long time in the desert," Carsey said. "She was the one to stick around and fight it out. It meant a lot."

Tretter has said on multiple occasions in the past that there were a lot of tears for her as a freshman, learning how to lead a team that had a long way to go.

Amber Tretter

So it was incredibly fitting that after leading the way with 23 points and 10 rebounds on the biggest stage the program has seen in 18 years, the tears were falling once more.

But this time, they were very happy tears.

For most of the celebration, the RedHawks were scattered here, there and everywhere inside the red ropes at center court as each greeted family, friends and fans.

However, there was time for one more huddle before the group dispersed.

And in this moment, the celebration was as loud as humanly possible.

"1-2-3: MAC CHAMPS!"

How it Happened:

The RedHawks held Toledo scoreless for more than seven minutes to open the game, jumping out to a commanding 16-0 lead. Singer scored on the first offensive trip, and inside moves by Scalia and Tretter stretched the lead to six. Scalia hit a pullup and scored in transition to give Miami its first double-digit cushion at 10-0, and de Vries' footwork on the baseline led to a lay-in and a Toledo timeout at 12-0. After Tretter drove and scored, Singer stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to cap the run of 16 consecutive points. Miami led 16-6 after 10 minutes of play
Another 10-0 run for Miami doubled the lead to 20 with 6:15 remaining in the half. Scalia scored on a Eurostep and Singer used a stop-and-start move to put Miami on top 20-6. de Vries followed with back-to-back shots from downtown to give Miami its biggest lead of the game at 26-6. Toledo fought back with a 10-2 run to close the period to pull within 28-16 at the break.
Leading 28-18 early in the third quarter, Miami produced baskets on three consecutive trips to maintain a double-digit cushion. Tretter drilled a three-pointer from the right wing and de Vries got a shot in close to roll home before Scalia got open curling down the lane for a 35-23 lead. Miami made it 40-27 at the 5:40 mark after Tretter hit a triple in front of the Miami bench and then drove into the Rockets' defense to hit Scalia for a layup. After a tough move in the paint by de Vries made it 42-31, Toledo used a 7-1 run to cut the lead to single digits for the first time. Scalia scored on an isolation move in the lane and Tretter pushed a five-point lead to seven with a pair of foul shots on Miami's final possession of the quarter as the RedHawks led 47-40 heading to the final period.
Miami ran its offense through Tretter as the fourth quarter unfolded, and the junior forward responded with a pair of strong right-handed moves at the rim to keep Miami up 51-43 with 7:20 to go. De Vries buried a monster triple from the left wing for a 54-45 lead with 5:30 showing on the clock. Tretter converted two free throws and then Singer made possibly the biggest bucket of the game with a three-point play at the 3:24 mark to make it 59-50. The Rockets never got closer than five points, and the RedHawks went 12-of-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to finish off their first MAC Tournament title since 2008.

TOURNAMENT TEAM: Scalia, Tretter and Singer were named to the MAC All-Tournament Team, with Scalia taking home Tournament MVP honors. Scalia finished with 14 points in the title game on 7-of-11 shooting and matched her career high with four steals; the senior guard averaged nearly 17 points a game in Cleveland this week to pace the RedHawks. Tretter collected double-doubles in the semifinal and final, while Singer chipped in 13 points and five assists Saturday and moved into seventh place on the single-season MAC list for assists (240).

FIRST-QUARTER FRENZY: Miami's 16-0 run to start the game dug the Rockets a hole they were never able to escape (and caused the Toledo fans who traditionally stand until their team scores the first point to wait quite a while before getting to sit down at the 2:21 mark!). Miami forced 10 consecutive Toledo misses and a half-dozen turnovers before Camryn Vanden Bosch broke the drought.

"We were just aggressive right away and came out in the first quarter aggressive, ready to go – attacking," Scalia said. "Their defense was getting out on shooters, so driving lanes were open for us, and we started out hot… Mio Sakano and Amber Scalia hug

"We came out ready to go. We know defense is our whole identity, our whole game. They weren't ready for it."

"We have been in championship games for a month…every game has been difficult," Box said. "When you get to this tournament format it's do-or-die…we're used to do-or-die because we lose a game, we lose a chance to win a regular-season championship…

"They didn't know what hit them. They didn't know what being in a championship game was like."

MIO'S MOMENT: Reserve guard Mio Sakano averaged more than 15 minutes a game in this week's tournament, including 10 critical minutes in relief of a foul-plagued Singer Saturday. "That's the first time I think I've been nervous in years," Box said of Singer's fourth foul, which was whistled with 6:48 to go in a tight game.

"We needed Mio to be able to eat some minutes for us, and she did that. She kept us above water…

"She's a kid playing at a higher level but she's still learning. When you get in these moments, nobody cares: You have to produce…she stepped up and exhibited some real maturity and bought time before I felt confident putting Tamar back in."

PRESSURE POINTS: All nine of Tretter's free throws came in the second half as Miami grounded the Rockets' comeback hopes, and Box said he wasn't surprised at all. "They were very big [and] timely. We needed them," Box said. "She's a confident kid…those were winning free throws.

Tretter and Box

"That's what championship basketball is about. It's about making plays and doing things during difficult moments…Amber stepped up in a big way, as did some other kids too: All of them."

SELECTION SHOW: The 2026 NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPN, will reveal the RedHawks' next destination and opponent. Box said his team, which was picked seventh in the MAC preseason poll before sweeping the conference's regular-season and tournament titles, is not content to just qualify for the Big Dance.

"I came here to win championships. I also came here to win in the tournament," explained Box, who made four NCAA appearances during his time on Indiana University's coaching staff before coming to Oxford. "We have a team and a style…defense travels. I know what it's like to be in the tournament…I know how to win in that tournament. That's a message I share with those kids to try to instill confidence in them…

"Our goal is to be in the Sweet 16. That's our goal. And that has not changed. That's our expectation. That's the standard."