Box Score

The Malone University women's basketball team (18-8, 13-7 GLIAC) collected its third consecutive win as the Pioneers defeated Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent Hillsdale College (MI) (11-12, 10-9 GLIAC) Thursday night at home with a 77-69 victory.

Malone had already secured a spot in the GLIAC playoffs with last week's win at Ohio Domincian University and will look to improve its postseason positioning over the final two regular-season games (at Univ. of Findlay on Saturday, home vs. Walsh on Feb. 27).  The Pioneers are currently fifth in the overall GLIAC standings, one game behind both Ashland University and Northern Michigan University, the two squads now tied for third with 14-6 conference records.  The top four seeds in the final standings will host opening-round tournament games on Wednesday, March 5.

During Thursday's contest, the Pioneers jumped out to a quick eight-point lead going up 10-2 at the 14:53 mark of the first half. Malone did a great job of taking care of the ball, winning the turnover battle early on. The Pioneers had only two first-half turnovers and forced the Chargers to commit nine, which also led to 12 points off turnovers for Malone. Guard Deborah Simmers had a strong first half and her 13 points helped the Pioneers grab a 39-29 lead at the intermission.

Simmers was forced to sit down early in the second half with three fouls which slowed down the Pioneer offense for a time. The Chargers chipped away at the lead and finally knotted things up at 56-56 with 9:40 left to play. The hosts would never relinquish the lead, though, pulling away from that lone tie in the contest. When Simmers re-entered, she scored seven unanswered points for Malone, stretching the lead to 63-56 at the seven-minute mark. The Pioneers ended up hitting six of seven free throws down the stretch to close the game out, posting the 77-69 win in a contest in which they never trailed.

Simmers led the Pioneers with a total of 22 points coming off the bench. Forward Lindsy Snyder controlled the paint and gathered a double-double, scoring 14 points to go along with a team-high 13 boards. Guard Sydnee Penn scored 14 points with a team-high (tied) five assists. Guard Selana Reale also had five assists while dropping in nine points.

For the Chargers, Megan Fogt had a big night scoring 20 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Joining her in double figures were teammates Kadie Lowery with 12 points and Brooke Borowski with 15 off the bench.

The Pioneers shot 28-for-66 (42%) from the field for the game and 7-for-19 (37%) from three-point range. Hillsdale went 25-for-63 (40%) for the contest and 9-for-19 (47%) from deep. Both teams shot well from the line as Malone went 14-for-17 (82%) while the Chargers shot 10-for-11 (90%). The Pioneers had a 21 to seven advantage in points off turnovers which proved to be the difference in this game.

Malone will look to extend its win streak to four when it travels to play Findlay this Saturday (Feb. 22nd) in a 1:00 p.m. contest. Fans can catch the action live on the Malone Sports Network (live audio on www.malonepioneers.com/showcase).  Findlay will also provide Live video and live stats during the contest.