The Malone University women's basketball team fell to 2-3 on the season and 1-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after falling to Hillsdale College, 77-51, Thursday night in its G-MAC road opener. Hillsdale, meanwhile, improved to 4-3 on the year and 2-1 in conference.
 
Recap
Sophomore forward Ellen Doyle, making her first collegiate start on Thursday in her home state of Michigan, put the Pioneers on the board in the opening quarter with a layup that made it a 2-2 game. From that point on, Hillsdale went on an 8-0 and never looked back. The Chargers held Malone to just five field goals in the first quarter, including a pair threes from Chrissie Vaughan and another by Naomi Grandison, while shooting 62.5% from the field as they opened up a 22-13 lead after one.
 
The trend continued into the second quarter where the Pioneers missed four of their first five shots. Hillsdale, meanwhile, made four of its first five shot attempts to increase the lead to 31-15 just two and half minutes into the period. A three-point play by Dani Drayer off the bench a minute later hoped to ignite a spark for Malone, but Hillsdale scored seven straight points to snuff it out. The Chargers finished the first half 19-of-31 (61.3%) from the field as they would take a 20-point advantage (45-25) into the intermission.
 
The Pioneers, who shot just 29.4% (10-34) in the first half, saw their deficit swell to 28 points before Grandison's layup at the 5:24 mark ended a nearly six-minute field goal drought. A Grandison jumper and a Paiten Strother three-pointer accounted for the only other field goals in the quarter as Malone went to the fourth trailing 67-37.
 
The Chargers emptied their bench in the fourth quarter as they closed out the 77-51 victory and improved to 5-2 in seven all-time meetings with Malone and 4-0 in games played at Hillsdale.
 
Game Highlights
-The Pioneers finished just 19-of-65 (29.2%) from the field, while the hosts shot 33-of-67 (49.3%)
-Hillsdale held a 46-36 advantage in rebounds and outscored Malone 46-22 in the paint
-The Chargers also outscored Malone 24-10 in points off turnovers, despite committing three more turnovers (15 to Malone's 12)
-Malone was 6-of-30 (20.0%) from three-point range and 7-of-9 from the free throw line
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Naomi Grandison tossed in a team-high 14 points, but was just 6-of-20 from the field. She added four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal
-Holly Groff contributed eight points and three assists
-Chrissie Vaughan netted eight points and four rebounds
-Paiten Strother totaled six points, a team-high five rebounds, and two steals
-Dani Drayer chipped in with seven points and three boards
-Ellen Doyle (3) and Kiah Powell (2) combined for five steals
 
Hillsdale Individual Highlights
-Brittany Gray scored a game-high 21 points to go along with three blocks and two steals to lead the Chargers.
-Allie Dewire totaled 15 points and four assists.
-Mackenna Ott chipped in with 14 points
-Allie Dittmer added eight points, nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and a steal
 
Up Next
Malone will travel to take on Findlay on Saturday, December 9th at 3:00 pm.