Eastern Michigan 65, Bowling Green 56

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Ryan Coleman scored 14 points and Eastern Michigan won its first Mid-American Conference women's tournament title with a 65-56 win Saturday over Bowling Green, putting the Eagles in the NCAA tourney for the first time.

Nikki Knapp added 12 points for second-seeded Eastern Michigan (22-7), which had never played in a championship before. Coleman, a junior guard, was chosen tournament MVP for the Eagles, who have won 12 of 13.

Carin Horne led fourth-seeded Bowling Green with 17 points and Ali Mann added 12 for the Falcons (21-10), who had won their previous six trips to the championship.

Bowling Green advanced to the final on two buzzer-beating shots by Lindsay Austin, whose heroics had eliminated defending champion Western Michigan in the quarterfinals and Miami of Ohio in the semis.

But there was no dramatic ending this time for the Falcons, who fell behind by 15 points in the first half and couldn't climb back.

Sarah VanMetre's basket put the Eagles ahead 53-44 with 9:37 remaining, but Bowling Green countered and pulled within 55-50 on Stefanie Wenzel's steal and layup with 4:56 left.

Horne's 3-pointer brought the Falcons within 59-53, and they had a chance to get closer as Eastern Michigan struggled from the foul line, missing 7 of 11 in the final 1:32.

But Bowling Green missed six straight shots from the field before Wenzel's 3-pointer made it 64-56 with 12.3 seconds to go.

At the final horn, Eastern Michigan's players rushed the floor to celebrate along with coach Suzy Merchant, a former Central Michigan star who never won a MAC title in her four tries (1987-91) with the Chippewas.

Coleman's 3-pointer highlighted an 11-0 run midway through the first half, giving the Eagles a 24-9 lead and momentum the Falcons spent the rest of the game trying to take back.