Box Score

The Malone University women's basketball team (3-1 overall, 0-1 GLIAC) could never fully recover from an early hole during Thursday night's home contest against Michigan Tech University, losing its first ever Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) game 68-56.

Michigan Tech (3-1 overall, 1-0 GLIAC) jumped out of the gates quickly, scoring the game's first seven points en route to an 11-2 lead. Thanks in large part to the hot shooting hand of freshman forward Tara Schaffter and her 11 first-half points, the Pioneers managed to weather the storm, keeping the deficit within single digits. A layup from junior guard Sydnee Penn at the buzzer sent Malone into halftime trailing by only five at 38-33.

Malone would carry the momentum from the end of the first half into the second, pulling within two points on three separate occasions, the last with 15:24 to go after a Schaffter layup. Unfortunately, the Pioneers would go ice cold from that point on, scoring just two points over the next 10 minutes and 24 seconds while allowing the Huskies to go on a 19-2 run over that span.

Malone would claw its way back into the game by amping up the defensive pressure over the last five minutes, but time proved the Pioneers' biggest enemy as they got no closer than 11 points.

Schaffter finished the game with a team-high 13 points. Penn was the other Pioneer to reach double figures, finishing with 10 points and four steals. Sophomore guard Logan Pastor added eight points, five rebounds and four assists.  Sophomore guard Selana Reale also made solid contributions with nine points.

The Huskies were led by Kylie Moxley's 14 points and eight rebounds and Mackenzie Perttu's 10 points. Paige Albi also contributed nine points and eight rebounds in the victory while Sam Hoyt tallied nine points, six rebounds and four steals.

Malone shot 32.3% (21 of 65) from the field but only 25.8% (eight of 31) in the second half, while the Huskies finished the game at 46.3% (25 of 54) overall. The Pioneers hit on four of 17 (23.5%) attempts from beyond the arc, but made only 10 of 21 (47.6%) from the foul line.

The Pioneers will look for their first conference win when they return to action this Saturday at home with a 3:00 p.m. match-up against the Wildcats from Northern Michigan University (4-1 overall, 1-0 GLIAC).  Live statistics will be provided during the contest at http://www.sidearmstats.com/malone/wbball/scoreboard.aspx