Box Score

The Malone University women's basketball team bounced back from a brief two-game losing streak by earning a solid 63-39 home victory over visiting Salem International (WV) University on Thursday night. With the victory, the Pioneers improved to   12-13 on the season while the Tigers dropped to 4-21 overall.

The Pioneers opened the contest by scoring the game's first 13 points and built a lead as large as 23 points, at 29-6 with 4:40 remaining in the first half, before settling in for a 37-15 halftime advantage.

Although the visitors did manage to trim their deficit to 15 points on two occasions in the second half, with the latter being at 54-39 with just 3:16 left in the contest, Malone pulled away down the stretch again to post the convincing 24-point, 63-39 victory.

Malone tossed in 43.3% (26-60) of its field goal attempts while Salem International connected on 28.8% (15-52). Neither team fared well from beyond the three-point arc with the Tigers holding a slight edge at 21.1% (4-19) to 15.4% (2-13).  At the foul line, the Pioneers converted nine of 14 attempts for 64.3% while the visitors knocked down five of 11 for 45.5%. In addition, Malone held a commanding advantage in rebounds as they nearly doubled up the Tigers by a 49-27 margin.

Guard Sydnee Penn paced the team in scoring with 13 points to go along with her four rebounds and team-best five steals on the night. Forward Sarah Bardall also hit twin figures in scoring with 11 points and added seven rebounds as well.  Forward Sarah VanVoorhis tossed in eight points, forward Lindsy Snyder chipped in with seven points and six rebounds, and guard Selana Reale contributed  six points and game-highs in both rebounds, with nine, and assists, with five. In addition, guard Trisha Seilhamer tallied six points and six rebounds while guard Lauren Myers followed with five points and six boards.

Jackee Thompson led Salem International with 12 points while Brittany Wells followed with seven points.  Inkera Patterson and Whitney McCargo paced the Tigers in rebounds with five apiece.

Malone will close out its regular season on Saturday by competing in a road contest at Cedarville University (18-7) in a 2:00 p.m. contest.  The game will be broadcast on WNPQ 95.9 FM with live audio also available at www.thelight959.com.   In addition, live stats and live video will also be available.

Ohio Independent Championships postseason:  Malone will compete in the seven-team OIC postseason tournament that has first-round contests set for Tuesday, February 28th.  The top seed, Cedarville University, will receive a first-round bye and will be the site of the semifinals and finals on Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd.  While the official seedings and pairings are yet to be determined for the first round on Feb. 28th, #2 will host #7, #3 will host #6, and #4 will host #5.  Malone is assured of being either the fourth or fifth seed.  A win at Cedarville on Saturday in its final regular-season contest would likely give Malone the fourth seed and a home game next Tuesday.  With a loss at Cedarville, Malone could still possibly grab the fourth seed, depending upon the outcomes of other contests. Official seedings and pairings, with game times, will be announced on Monday.