The Malone University women's basketball team will be home this weekend for just the second time since early December after playing 10 of the previous 11 games on the road. The Pioneers, who sit in a tie for second place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference standings, will begin their second go around the G-MAC on Thursday, February 2nd against Kentucky Wesleyan College before hosting Trevecca Nazarene University on February 4th.
 
GameDay
(2/2) Kentucky Wesleyan (14-4, 4-3 G-MAC) at Malone (12-6 5-2 G-MAC) – 6:00 pm.
Live Video: livestream.com/maloneuniversity
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/malone/wbball/
Live Radio: ESPN 990 AM/ espn990.com/listen.php
**Thursday's game will be a "Rock the Hall" theme with a number of giveaways planned. The first 200 fans at Thursday's doubleheader in Osborne Hall will receive a free rally towel**
 
(2/4) Trevecca Nazarene (5-14, 1-7 G-MAC) at Malone – 1:00 pm
Live Video: livestream.com/maloneuniversity
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/malone/wbball/
Live Radio: ESPN 990 AM/ espn990.com/listen.php
 
All-Time Series
The Pioneers picked up the win (82-69) in their first-ever meeting with Kentucky Wesleyan on January 14th. Two days prior, Malone improved to 1-4 against Trevecca Nazarene with a 62-43 road victory.

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Since winning eight straight, Malone has two lost of its last three games including a hard-fought 77-74 setback at first-place Ursuline last Saturday in which the Pioneers had their third-best shooting day of the season.
• The usually reliable Malone defense, which surrenders G-MAC-lows 61.9 points per game and 36.6% shooting, allowed the Arrows to shoot 45.6% and outrebounded the Pioneers 35-27.
• Junior forward Baylen Dyrlund led the Pioneers with 16 points and eight rebounds in the loss. In the process, she climbed to 10th in the G-MAC in both scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg).
• Senior point guard Rachel Goddard posted the third 10+ assist game of her career and the second with zero turnovers as she finished with 15 points and 10 assists against Ursuline. Goddard is now 6th in the conference in scoring (14.8 ppg) and 3rd in assists (5.1 apg). She is also 3rd in NCAA DII with a 3.64 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Goddard will be chasing history this weekend as she continues her pursuit of 1,000 career points. She enters the weekend needing 25 points to reach the milestone. Goddard is also approaching the Malone top-10 in career assists where she is 22 shy of former teammate Selana Reale's 10th-place total of 281.
• Senior forward Hannah McCue recorded her 17th game of reaching double-digit scoring in the loss to Ursuline as she finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. McCue has blocked at least two shots in each of the past five games and leads the G-MAC with 1.8 blocks per.
• Among the G-MAC leaders, McCue is also 4th in scoring (15.6 ppg), 2nd in rebounding (9.6 rpg), 3rd in steals (1.9 spg) and 9th in three-pointers with 36.
• Sophomore Chrissie Vaughan is tied 7th in that same category with 37 made threes. Vaughan has made at least one three in 16 of 18 games this season and is pouring in 7.8 points per contest.
• Fellow sophomore Naomi Grandison scored eight points in a season-high 28 minutes last Saturday. She has led the Malone bench in scoring 10 times this season.
• Reserve point guard Mackenzie Storlie has led the bench in scoring four times this season. She knocked down a pair of threes in the win over Trevecca earlier this month.
• Freshman guard Dani Drayer made her first career start in that same game and scored seven points in the victory.
• In the 82-69 win over Kentucky Wesleyan, the starting five of Dyrlund (21), Goddard (18). McCue (14), Vaughan (13), and Holly Groff (7) combined for 73 points as Malone pulled away late for the victory.
• The Pioneers enter Thursday's game 4-2 at home this season.
   

Kentucky Wesleyan Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Panthers enter the weekend winners of their last three overall. They come to Malone unbeaten (4-0) in road games.
• KWC employs an aggressive defense that leads the conference in forced turnovers (19.2) and turnover margin (+3.89). The defense struggled against Malone though, forcing a season-low 11 turnovers and allowing the Pioneers to shoot a season-high 50% from the field.
• The Wesleyan offense ranks third in the conference in scoring (72.7 ppg) and shooting (43.0%).
• Senior guard Brittany Wells leads the way as the #2 scorer in the G-MAC (18.7 ppg) and third-best shooter in terms of percentage (54.6%). Wells has scored 20+ points 10 times this season. Malone limited her to 14 points on 5-of-14 (35.7%) shooting in the previous matchup.
• Senior forward Jennifer Walker-Crawford averages 11.5 points and 5.1 rebounds a contest.
• Shayla Wright tosses in 9.0 points per game while her older sister Bria Wright leads the team in rebounding (7.3 rpg) and ranks 4th in the conference.
   

Trevecca Nazarene Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Trojans forced Malone into a season-high 23 turnovers in their meeting three weeks ago, but they were outrebounded by a substantial 56-28 margin.
• TNU ranks last among the eight schools in the G-MAC in rebounding (34.3 rpg) and last in scoring (58.2 ppg). Trevecca has scored 60+ points just six times in 18 games this season, but the defense has limited opponents to 60 points or fewer eight times.
• Senior forward Sarah Raby and sophomore guard Adi Hale each average a shade over 10 points per game. Raby is also the team's leading rebounder, hauling in 6.3 boards a night.
• Hale ranks among the best three-pointer shooters in the country, knocking down 44.6% of her tries from distance. She also ranks 2nd in the G-MAC with 1.9 steals per game.
• Freshman guard Kiersten Hunter (11 points) was the only Trojan to reach double-digits against Malone last month. She also leads the squad with 43 assists.
• Trevecca Nazarene is just 4-14 away from home over the last two seasons.