The Malone University women's basketball team will make a pre-holiday trip to New York City this weekend with a pair of non-conference games along the way. The Pioneers will take on Caldwell University (NJ) on Friday, December 16th at 6:00 pm before traveling to Nyack College (NY) on Saturday, December 17th for a 1:00 pm tipoff. Both Caldwell and Nyack are within 20 miles of NYC.
 
GameDay
(12/16) Malone (4-4) at Caldwell (9-1) – 6:00 pm
Live Video: caldwellathletics.com/watchlive
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/caldwell/wbball
 
(12/17) Malone at Nyack (2-7) – 1:00 pm
Live Video: collegetvticket.com
Live Stats: athletics.nyack.edu/sports/wbkb/2016-17/boxscores/20161217_l5p6.xml
 
All-Time Series
Malone will be taking on Caldwell for the first-time in school history. It will be the fourth meeting between Malone and Nyack. The Pioneers hold a 3-0 all-time advantage with the last meeting taking place in 2000.

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Pioneers are coming off of a 70-47 win over Carlow last Saturday in which they made a season-high 25 free throws in 31 attempts (80.6%). Malone has shot over 73% at the stripe in seven of eight games this season and ranks 35th in the nation with a 75.4% success rate from the free throw line.
• The Pioneers also made nine three-pointers in the win. Malone has made at least eight threes in seven games this year and rank 11th in the nation with 9.3 per game.
• Hannah McCue has made at least one three-pointer in every game this season. The talented senior leads Malone in scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg), posting five double-doubles on the season. She also leads the squad with 18 steals and nine blocks.
• Rachel Goddard leads the team with 46 assists while ranking second in steals (12) and scoring (11.9 ppg). The gifted point guard notched her 800th career point in the win over Carlow, climbing to 30th on the Malone all-time scoring list. An equally impressive passer as she is a scorer, Goddard enters the weekend as the NCAA leader at all three levels with a 5.11 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Chrissie Vaughan, who is the only other active Pioneer with over 300 points at Malone, surpassed the plateau a game earlier and now has 316 in her career. Vaughan continues to thrive behind the three-point line where she is shooting 45% (18-40) over the last seven games.
• Alaina Schwarz, a career 42.2% three-point shooter, is shooting 6-of-10 (60%) from deep over her last four games. In the win over Carlow, Schwarz set a career-high with a trio of steals.
• Holly Groff, who is averaging 14 minutes off the bench over the last five games, gave Malone a defensive spark with three steals herself in the win over Carlow. Despite standing at just 5'4", the energetic Groff ranks third on the team with 9.0 rebounds per 40 minutes of play.
• The Pioneers head to the east coast winning four the last five. They have benefitted, however, from one of the easiest schedules in the nation.
• Based solely on wins and loss, Malone has played the 19th (out of 316) easiest schedule in DII. Malone will face its toughest test to date when it takes on a 9-1 Caldwell club whose only loss came to a ranked opponent.
   

Caldwell Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Caldwell was among teams receiving votes in the latest Top-25 Coaches Poll. The Cougars were ranked 13th in the D2SIDA National Poll.
• The Cougars come into the weekend scoring 75.7 points per game while allowing just 62.2. Caldwell is one of the better three-point shooting teams in the nation, averaging 8.7 per game on 37.8% shooting.
• Caldwell also ranks 10th in the nation in fewest turnovers, 13th in assists, and 6th in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Leading scorer Kristen Drogsler (21.4 ppg) ranks 10th in the nation in scoring and 12th in three-point shooting percentage (50.8).
• Point guard Sharell Sanders (10.2 ppg) leads the efficient offense with 5.0 assists per game while also leading the defense with 23 steals through 10 games.
• Over the last three seasons, Caldwell is 26-5 on its home court.
   

Nyack Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Over the last three seasons, Nyack is 3-24 on its home court.
• The Warriors are being outscored by an average of 15.7 points per night.They are scoring just 59.6 points a night while allowing 75.3.
• Nyack ranks among the poorest shooting teams in the country at 32.9% but averages over 15 offensive rebounds per game.
• Sophomore forward Janae Bailey is the team's leading rebounder, averaging 9.0 boards along with her 10.0 points a game.
• Freshman guard Bryanna Brown leads the Warriors with 10.6 points per game
• Through nine games, senior guard Tayelor McCalister (7.2 ppg) leads the squad in steals (18) and assists (26).