Box Score

The Malone University women's basketball team built a big first-half lead and then held off a strong second-half rally to notch a 55-53 win on Thursday evening in its American Mideast Conference contest at Point Park (PA) University. The win snapped a six-game slide for Malone, improving the Pioneers' record to 6-16 overall and 2-7 in the AMC. Point Park, meanwhile, suffered the fifth loss in its last six games, falling to 11-9 overall and 3-6 in the conference.

Stingy defense allowed the Pioneers to build a 34-20 lead at intermission. The Malone advantage then swelled to as many as 19 points at 47-28 midway through the final period before the hosts clawed back into the game, outscoring Malone 22-5 over the next ten minutes to cut the deficit to just 52-50 with under two minutes remaining. After each team came up empty on its next few possessions, Pioneer guard Allyson Wilson drained a pair of free throws push the visitors' advantage to 54-50.

Point Park missed a pair of three-pointers on its next trip down the floor and Wilson then split two more attempts from the foul line to stretch the Malone lead to 55-50 with 20 ticks showing on the clock. Although her first six attempts from beyond the three-point arc were off the mark, PPU guard April Austin drilled her first trey of the night moments later to cut the deficit back to two at 55-53. Point Park quickly fouled on the Malone inbounds play and after a missed Pioneer free throw, got the ball back with one last chance to take the lead. PPU guard Ashley Henderson, who posted a game-high 24 points on the evening, got a look at the basket in the final moments, but her potential go-ahead three was off the mark, allowing the Pioneers to escape with the two-point victory.

Both teams shot exactly 31.3% from the field over the course of the evening with Malone hitting 21 of 67 attempts while Point Park connected on 20 of 64 field goals. The Pioneers hit eight of 22 (36.4%) three-pointers and five of seven (71.4%) free throws. PPU countered by connecting on five of 19 (26.3%) attempts from beyond the arc and eight of 12 (66.7%) tries from the charity stripe. Malone also held a 48-45 advantage in total rebounds and received a substantial 34-point contribution from its bench.

Guard Caitlin Sharp hit three of five three-pointers to pace a balanced Pioneer scoring attack with 11 points. Wilson notched seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds to go with five steals and three assists. Guard Sara Tucke also posted seven points while forward Julie Conley, guard Cindy Netti and guard Ashley Speicher all tossed in five points apiece. In all, 11 different Malone players scored in the contest.

In addition to her big scoring total, Henderson also grabbed seven rebounds and registered three of Point Park's nine blocked shots. Austin followed with 11 points.

Malone will be back in action on Saturday when it makes the short trip to North Canton to face NAIA Division II #12 Walsh University in the 15th annual Mayors' Cup Game. The Cavaliers, currently 17-4 overall and 8-1 in the AMC, enter the rivalry contest on a 12-game winning streak. The AMC match-up will tip-off at approximately 2:00 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the Malone Sports Network (on the radio at WNPQ 95.9 FM and on the internet at www.thelight959.com). In addition, a tape-delayed broadcast of the game will be televised at midnight Saturday on SportsTime Ohio.