The Malone University women's basketball team continues Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play this week with road contests at Hillsdale College on Thursday, December 7th and at the University of Findlay on Saturday, December 9th as part of two doubleheaders with the Pioneer men's team. The Malone women enter the weekend with a 2-2 overall record and a 1-1 mark in conference.
 
GameDay
12/7 Malone at Hillsdale – 5:30 pm
12/9 Malone at Findlay – 3:00 pm
Both games will be streamed live via the Great Midwest Digital Network at: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone

Series History
Malone went 2-4 in six matches with Hillsdale as members of the GLIAC from 2013-2016. During that time, the Pioneers went winless in three trips to Michigan, including an 81-71 loss to the Chargers in their most recent meeting in the 2015-16 season. Against Findlay, Malone is just 3-23 in 26 all-time meetings, but 3-4 since 2014. The Oilers topped Malone 75-74 in overtime last season in an early-season non-conference affair. Malone's loss to Findlay accounted for one of just two setbacks at home.

Malone Notes 

• The Pioneers have already matched that number from a season ago with two home losses this season, including a 74-71 defeat to Davis & Elkins last Saturday. Two days prior, Malone came away with a 62-50 home win against Alderson Broaddus.
• Despite the loss to D&E, senior forward Baylen Dyrlund shot 8-of-12 from the field and scored 20 points for the fourth time in her Pioneer career. Through four games this season, she leads the Pioneers in scoring with 13.8 ppg and is 2nd in rebounding with 7.3 rpg. Dylrund totaled 17 points and 12 rebounds against Findlay last season.
• Junior forward Naomi Grandison leads Malone in rebounds (7.5 rpg) and is second in scoring (11.5 ppg). She and Dyrlund make up one of two teammate pairs in the G-MAC that each average 11 points and seven rebounds (Ursuline's Laney Lewis and Camryn Hill are the other)
• As a team, Malone ranks 6th in the G-MAC in rebounding margin (+4.5 rpg) and leads the conference in defensive rebounding percentage (78.7%) and fewest offensive rebounds allowed by opponents (6.5/g). The Pioneers, meanwhile, are averaging 12 offensive rebounds a night.
• Sophomore guard Sydney Wentling collected five offensive rebounds to go along with three steals and nine points in the loss to Davis & Elkins. Wentling, who is averaging 9.8 points a night, has scored at least eight points in all four games this season, including a career-high 12 in the win over Alderson Broaddus.
• In that same game, Chrissie Vaughan knocked down four three-pointers and scored a team-high 14 points. She followed that up with a 12-point, 5-assisst effort against D&E. On the season, Vaughan is averaging 10.5 points and ranks 4th in the G-MAC in three-point shooting (44.0%).
• Pioneer point guard Holly Groff (9.0 ppg) is 3rd in the G-MAC in assists (5.3 apg) and 6th in free throws (81.8%). She leads Malone with six steals on the year.
• As a team, Malone ranks 5th in DII in free-throw percentage at 82.9%. The Pioneers are also top-25 in the country in three-point shooting three-pointers per game (8.5), but bottom-25 in steals, blocks, and field goal defense.
• Three of the first four Pioneer opponents have shot better than 45.0% from the floor, including D&E who made 54.7% of its shots on Saturday. In 30 games last season, only three opponents shot better than 45% against a Malone defense that ranked 2nd in the Midwest Region.
   

Hillsdale Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Chargers enter Thursday's matchup with a 3-3 overall record. They produced a 1-1 mark last weekend, falling to Trevecca Nazarene 68-57 on Thursday in their Great Midwest debut, before edging out Kentucky Wesleyan 64-56 for their first-ever G-MAC victory on Saturday.
• Junior forward Mackenna Ott tallied a team-high 14 points in the win after notching 20 in the loss. On the season, she leads a group a four Chargers averaging double figures, scoring 15.2 points per game.
• Senior center Allie Dittmer (12.8 ppg) ranks second in the G-MAC with 10.8 rebounds and has at least 11 boards in each of her last five games.
• Overall, Hillsdale leads the conference in team rebounding at 46.2 per game.
• The Chargers also rank 1st in the G-MAC and 8th in DII in rebounding margin (+10.5 rpg), but they are last in the conference and 301st (out of 302 teams) in DII with a (-9.17) average turnover margin.
   

Findlay Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Oilers, who will face Walsh on Thursday prior to hosting Malone, come into the weekend with a 5-1 overall record and a 2-0 mark in conference. Since suffering a 92-88 loss to Wayne State in the season opener, Findlay has won five straight games by an average of 21.4 points.
• 6'2" Junior forward Anna Hintz leads UF in scoring (17.2 ppg), rebounding (8.0 rpg), and FG shooting (56.9%). Hintz scored a team-high 17 points with four blocks in UF's 60-45 win over Trevecca Nazarene last Saturday.
• In a 73-51 win over Kentucky Wesleyan two days earlier, Lynsey Englebrecht tossed in a team-high 22 points, including six three-pointers, to the lead the Oilers. On the year, she is averaging 13.5 points a night while leading the G-MAC in three-pointers (23) and ranking 2nd in 3PT shooting (47.9%).
• As a team, Findlay is third in the nation in both field goals (50.3%) and three-point shooting (43.8%).
• The Oiler defense leads the conference and ranks top-20 in DII in both field goal defense (33.0%) and three-point defense (23.7%).