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The Malone University women's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 58-53 victory at Walsh University Tuesday night. With the victory, the Pioneers snapped an eight-game losing streak to Walsh while also improving their overall record to 2-5.  Walsh dropped to 2-3 overall with the defeat.

Prior to Tuesday night, Malone's last win over the Cavaliers had occurred during the 2006-07 season, a 74-72 win at Osborne Hall which allowed Malone to retire its second of two Mayors' Cups.  The Pioneers' last road victory over Walsh also occurred during the 06-07 campaign, a 60-56 triumph in North Canton. In addition, coupled with last night's Malone men's victory (71-67) over Walsh, the doubleheader Malone victory marked the first time ever that Malone swept the Cavaliers on their court on the same night. And not since the 1993-94 campaign had the Pioneer men and women both won on the Cavs' home floor in the same season.

The game between the local rivals featured six lead changes and seven ties although the Pioneers started to pull away midway through the first half. Malone extended its first-half lead to as many as 10 points (5:16 left in 1st half) before settling for an eight-point, 27-19, edge at the intermission. In the second half, the host Cavaliers slowly chipped away at the deficit, grabbing their first lead at 42-40 (7:41 left) since leading 13-12 midway through the first frame. Walsh would hold the lead for just over a minute, though, as the score was knotted for the final time at 44-44 with six and half minutes remaining.  The Pioneers then rattled off five unanswered points, pulling ahead 49-44 with a pair of free throws by forward Sarah Bardall and a three-pointer by guard Lauren Myers.   The Cavaliers kept things close over the remainder of the contest but were unable to regain the lead as Malone secured the five-point win. 

Myers pocketed a game-high 21 points (including a pair of three-pointers) on the evening and helped seal the win by sinking a pair of free throws with just 11 seconds remaining. She also contributed three rebounds on the night. Forward Lindsy Snyder followed with 12 points and 10 boards, marking her third double-double of the season.  Bardall also reached double figures with 10 points. Guard Sydnee Penn chipped in with seven points, four rebounds and a team-best three steals while guard Selana Reale had five points and six rebounds.

Walsh was led by Kristi Yoder who tallied a team-high 16 points while Tracy Payne also reached double digits with 14 points. Yoder also paced the Cavaliers in rebounding with six boards.

Walsh edged Malone in field goal percentage, 35.7% (20-56) to 32.7% (17-52), while neither team was able to fare well from beyond the arc, with Malone hitting just three of 17 attempts (17.6%) and Walsh sinking only one of 11 tries (9.1%). Malone went to the free throw line much more often than Walsh as the Pioneers converted 21 of 30 attempts (70.0%) while the Cavaliers made 12 of 14 (85.7%). In addition, Walsh held a slight 41-38 edge in rebounding.

Malone will be back in action on Friday, December 9th when the squad hosts Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College in a 7:30 p.m. contest. Live stats will be available for the game.