The Malone University women's basketball team opened the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) portion of its 2014-15 campaign on Thursday night but lost a 65-58 home decision to Michigan Tech University.

With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 2-2 overall and to 0-1 in the GLIAC while the Huskies stayed unbeaten at 4-0 and 1-0 in conference play.

While most of the game's statistical categories were fairly even, and despite neither team faring well from long range, the visitors held a four-to-one edge in made three-pointers which proved to be one of the deciding factors in the contest.

In the first half, Michigan Tech took control early in the game with a 12-4 advantage just three and a half minutes into the contest before the Pioneers got right back in it for most of the remainder of the period. On three separate occasions in the first half, the last of which came with 7:06 left, Malone took a one-point lead but the Huskies, down the stretch of the first stanza, opened up a seven-point 32-25 lead at the intermission.

In the second period, the visitors slowly continued to widen the gap with their largest lead of the game, at 12 points, coming with 11:53 remaining at 45-33. An 11-1 Pioneer run, though, cut the MTU lead to just two points, at 46-44, with 9:02 left before the Huskies reversed the momentum and opened their edge to 53-46 several minutes later. 

Malone would make one final run, though, outscoring the Huskies 10-2 to grab its only lead of the second half, with exactly three minutes left, at 56-55, as guard Kristen Massey hit the go-ahead jumper for the Pioneers.  But with a pair of baskets and by connecting on nearly every free throw attempt down the stretch, Michigan Tech secured their seven-point victory at 65-58.

For Malone, Massey paced the squad with 13 points while guard Alahna Singleton followed with eight points. Both Massey, at 7-for-7, and Singleton, at 6-for-6, were perfect at the free throw line leading Malone to an impressive 21-for-22 effort at the charity stripe on the night.

Guard Logan Pastor tallied seven points with four rebounds while six other Pioneers posted six points in the contest.  In addition, forward Lindsy Snyder pulled down a game-high eight rebounds for Malone.

For Michigan Tech, Brenna Heise led the team with 12 points while Heise and two other MTU players each posted a team-high five rebounds.

Malone will be right back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Pioneers host Northern Michigan University (3-1, 1-0 GLIAC) in a 1:00 p.m. contest.  Live stats and live video will be available for the game.