Box Score

The Malone University women's basketball team picked up a hard-fought 82-72 victory in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Ohio Dominican University. 

After trailing for nearly the entire second half, the Pioneers rattled off nine unanswered points near the end of regulation, pulling in front 66-65 with 44 seconds to go on a bucket by forward Deborah Simmers and then stretching their lead to 68-65 with 16 ticks remaining on a pair of free throws by guard Selana Reale.  However, Ohio Dominican forward Melissa Scherpenberg managed to send the contest to overtime after draining a tough turn-around three-pointer with just 2.7 seconds to play.

Despite the big shot from ODU, Malone took control in the extra period, out-scoring the hosts 14-4 down the stretch to secure the come-from-behind Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) victory.

Malone held a 15-13 advantage midway through the opening period before the Panthers went on an 11-0 run to open up 24-15 lead with just over four minutes showing on the first-half clock.  ODU was up 28-21 at intermission and then twice stretched its second-half lead to 10 points at 47-37 and 56-46.  The Panthers were still ahead 65-59 with two minutes remaining in regulation before the Pioneers fought back to take the lead with their late surge.

Malone featured a well-balanced scoring attack as all five starters reached double figures in the contest.  Simmers led the way with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half and overtime.  Guard Logan Pastor followed with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.  Forward Lindsy Snyder also registered a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards.  Reale added 14 points and seven assists while guard Sydnee Penn finished with 10 points and three assists.

Kacee Hockenberry notched a game-high 24 points for Ohio Dominican.  Scherpenberg recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 boards while Rachael Torey contributed 14 points.

Although the Pioneers hit only 36% (nine of 25) of their first-half shot attempts, the visitors managed to pick it up over the remainder of the game,  connecting on 22 of 36 (61.1%) shots from the floor in the second half and overtime to finish the game with an overall shooting percentage of 50.8% (31 of 61).  Ohio Dominican ended the afternoon with an overall mark of 44.1% (26 of 59) after hitting only two of seven shot attempts in overtime. 

The Pioneers also enjoyed a 37-34 edge in total rebounds and held a 16-6 advantage in fast-break points.

Malone will be back in action on Thursday night at home with an 8:00 p.m. contest against Hillsdale (MI) College (6-9 overall, 3-9 GLIAC).  The Malone Sports Network will provide a live video broadcast of the game at www.malonepioneers.com/showcase.  Live statistics will also be provided.