Box Score

In the 17th annual Mayors' Cup game, played at Walsh University on Saturday afternoon, the Malone University women's basketball team pulled away for a 65-49 road victory over the Cavaliers on the their home court.  With the win, the Pioneers finished the season with an overall record of 14-12 and a 10-12 mark in their first season of GLIAC play while the Cavaliers closed out the season at 8-18 (5-17 GLIAC).

The Pioneer win kept Walsh from retiring the Cup, which occurs when either team wins three consecutive Mayors' Cup contests.  Walsh had won the previous two Cup games but was denied a third straight Cup win.  In the Mayors' Cup series, Malone has retired the Cup twice while Walsh has retired it once.

In the first half, except for a game-opening basketball by Malone, the host Cavaliers maintained the lead throughout the period and led by as many as 11 points, at 22-11 with 9:49 left in the stanza. But Malone cut the gap to just four points, at 30-26, at the intermission.

In the final period, Walsh still held a 38-37 edge before the Pioneers pulled on top for good with 13:43 left in the game on a pair of free throws by guard Audrey Myers. By the time Malone had opened up a 51-39 advantage with 9:04 left, the Pioneers had capped an impressive 17-1 run.  Malone then continued to pull away down the stretch to secure the convincing 16-point, 65-49 victory.

Guards Leslie Raifsnider and Sydnee Penn each tallied a game-high 15 points to lead Malone in scoring. Raifsnider connected on six-of-eight from the floor, including two-of-three from three-point range while also adding six rebounds.  Penn grabbed four rebounds while also contributing two assists, one block and one steal.

Forward Lindsy Snyder and guard Deborah Simmers followed with eight points each while Snyder yanked down a whopping game-high 16 rebounds on the day. Simmers also dished out four assists in the contest. In addition, forward Sarah Bardall, who was four-for-four on the day, had eight points as well. Guard Logan Pastor posted a game-best seven assists.

Walsh was paced by Whitney Dabbelt who tossed in 12 points. Maggie Berry led the squad in rebounds with seven.

Malone held the advantage in field goal percentage at 45.9% (28-61) to Walsh's 38.5% (20-52). Neither squad excelled from beyond the arc as the Pioneers connected on four of 14 attempts for 28.6% while the Cavaliers netted three of 13 for 23.1%.  At the free throw line, Malone held a slight 55.6% (5-9) to 54.5% (6-11) edge over the hosts. On the boards, though, the Pioneers held a commanding 47-23 advantage.

The season-ending win put the Malone women's final 2012-13 record at 14-12, which matched the Pioneer men's overall record this season.  The Malone men's and women's teams also had identical 12-15 records last season.