The Malone University women's basketball team opened the season with an 80-66 win over the University of Indianapolis in Ryan Bailey's head coaching debut.
In the first game using the four quarters format, the Pioneers rolled out to an early 17-13 lead after one. Malone extended the lead to 34-28 at the half on the strength of seven first-half 3-pointers including three by Pioneer sophomore Alahna Singleton
A trey by Audrey Myers and a layup by Rachel Goddard to open the third stanza forced the Greyhounds into an early timeout. After two UIndy free throws, Myers nailed another triple to stretch the Malone lead to 42-30 just two minutes into the third quarter. The Greyhounds, however, started to slowly chip away at the lead. Two 3-pointers by the Greyhounds' Princess German and a jumper by Ashley Montanez just before the buzzer highlighted an 8-0 run that cut the Pioneers lead to 52-49.
Malone came out fast again to start the fourth, Myers hit another three, Bri Libertore hit a challenged layup, and Goddard earned three points the traditional way to go up 60-49 as the Pioneers answered Indy's 8-0 run with an 8-0 run of their own. Two German 3-pointers and a Montenez layup cut the Malone lead to 64-59 with just over five minutes to go. Five points would be as close as Indianapolis would get. Back to back triples by Singleton and freshman Chrissie Vaughan and a breakaway layup by Singleton put the Pioneers up 72-59, effectively putting the game out of reach. Malone drained eight free throws in the final two minutes to put the finishing touches on an 80-66 non-conference victory.
Malone Individual Highlights: - Alahna Singleton set career-highs with 22 points and 5 3-pointers (6-12 FG, 5-5 3PT, 5-8 FT)
- Rachel Goddard scored 15 points while adding 2 steals and a game-high 5 assists.
- Audrey Myers was 4-7 from deep range, finishing with 12 points, 2 steals. and team-high 6 rebounds.
- Freshman Chrissie Vaughan scored 11 points in her collegiate debut
- Bri Libertore chipped in with 8 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds
- Tara Schaffter contributed 6 points and 5 boards
- Freshman Naomi Grandison was good from beyond the arc on her first collegiate shot
Indianapolis Individual Highlights:- Princess German (8-16 FG, 5-10 3PT, 2-2FT) lead all scorers with 23 markers and 7 rebounds
- Tina Negoescu added 13 points and 7 rebounds
- Ashley Montanez finished with 12 points and 6 boards
Game Notes:- Head Coach Ryan Bailey earned a victory in his first game at the helm
- The two teams combined for 25 3-pointers
- Malone shot over 50% (15-29) from long range, Indianapolis shot 37% (10-27)
- The Pioneers shot 75% (21-28) from the charity stripe while the Greyhounds shot 89% (8-9)
- The Greyhounds held the rebound advantage (34-25) but lost the turnover battle (16-5)
- Malone had a significant edge in bench scoring (28-4)
- The Pioneers led nearly wire-to-wire, trailing only once (2-3) in the first quarter
Up Next:- The Pioneers (1-0) will face Bailey's former team on Tuesday, November 17th when they travel to Charleston (WV) for a 5:30 pm tip.
