The Malone University women's basketball team will have a chance to clinch a first-round bye in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament with a win over Davis & Elkins College this week. The second-place Pioneers will visit the third-place Senators on Thursday, February 16th before returning home to take on Alderson Broaddus University this Saturday, February 18th. Even with a loss to D&E on Thursday, Malone could still secure a first-round bye with a win over Alderson Broaddus combined with a Davis & Elkins loss to Ursuline on Saturday. The G-MAC standings are below:          
 

SCHOOL	CONF	PCT.	OVERALL
Ursuline*^	11-0	1.000	19-5
Malone*	9-2	0.818	17-6
Davis & Elkins*	7-4	0.636	18-6
Kentucky Wesleyan*	6-5	0.545	16-6
Cedarville*	6-5	0.545	14-10
Alderson Broaddus	3-8	0.273	9-16
Trevecca Nazarene	2-9	0.182	6-16
Ohio Valley	0-11	0.000	6-17

*Clinched a spot in the G-MAC Tournament
^Clinched first-round bye
 
GameDay
(2/16) Malone at Davis & Elkins– 5:30 pm
Live Video & Stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/dande
 
(2/18) Malone vs. Alderson Broaddus (9-16, 3-8 G-MAC)
Live Video:  livestream.com/maloneuniversity
Live Radio: ESPN 990 AM | espn990.com/listen.php
Live Stats: sidearmstats.com/malone/wbball

All-Time Series
Malone improved to 3-1 all-time against Alderson Broaddus with the victory on January 3rd. The Pioneers defeated Davis & Elkins in the first-ever meeting between the two schools that same week.

Malone Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• In the two previous meetings with this weekend's opponents, Malone defeated Davis & Elkins 73-64 behind 19 points from Hannah McCue and Alderson Broaddus 77-70 behind 21 points from Rachel Goddard. Most recently, Malone defeated Salem International on Tuesday night, 84-43.
• Hannah McCue added 17 points and a season-high 14 rebounds against AB. On the season, McCue is putting up 15.0 points and 9.6 rebounds which both rank among the top-5 in the G-MAC. Defensively, she also ranks in the top-5 in steals (41) and blocks (40). Her string of 22 straight games with a three-pointer was snapped on Tuesday night at Salem.
• McCue is one of five players in all of NCAA DII averaging 15.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks.
• Rachel Goddard has drained a three-pointer in six straight games after an uncharacteristic 1-for-16 stretch during her previous seven. The model of consistency, Goddard has scored at least nine points in every game this season and is averaging 14.5 a night.
• While Goddard continues to climb Malone's all-time scoring list, where she has a chance to move into 18th this weekend, she is still dishing out a team-high 4.7 assists per game. Goddard is one of 10 players in DII and the only one in the Midwest Region averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.0 rebounds.
• Junior forward Baylen Dyrlund is one of four players in the G-MAC averaging 13.0 points and 6.0 rebounds. Dyrlund scored 17 points and pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds against D&E in January.
• As a team, Malone ranks second in the G-MAC with 41.3 rebounds per game. The Pioneers lead the conference in scoring defense (59.8 ppg) and opponent field goal percentage (35.2%). They rank 2nd in the G-MAC in scoring margin (+13.7 ppg) and made threes (202).
• The Pioneers are 18 made threes away from breaking the school record of 219 set last season.
• Starting guards Chrissie Vaughan (44 made threes) and Alaina Schwarz (20) have been prime contributors. Vaughan is 4th on the team in scoring (7.5 ppg) and has two or more treys in 16 games this season.
• Pioneer reserves Dani Drayer (14), Naomi Grandison (13), Mackenzie Storlie (11), Holly Groff (8), and Paiten Strother (8) have combined for 54 three-pointers this season, including 17 in the last three games.
• Malone enters the weekend on a five-game winning streak in which they are outscoring opponents by an average of 27 points a game.
• Regardless of Thursday's outcome at Davis & Elkins, Malone will enter Saturday's home game against Alderson Broaddus on an eight-game home winning streak.
• Overall, Malone is 14-2 in the last 16 games.
   

Davis & Elkins Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Senators have won 11 of their last 13 games since losing to Malone, including an 80-64 win over Concord (WV) on Monday night. Senior guard Stephanie Wooten scored 32 points in the victory.
• Wooten ranks among the G-MAC leaders in multiple categories including points (21.8 ppg; 1st) and assists (6.3 apg; 2nd). Among national leaders, Wooten is 4th in scoring, 7th in assists, and 2nd in made threes (86). She tallied 18 points and nine assists in the loss to Malone in January.
• Sydney Turner notched nine points on three threes in that game. She is 11th in DII in three-pointers and second on the team in scoring (10.9 ppg). She leads the squad with 7.0 rebounds per game.
• As a team, D&E leads the G-MAC in scoring (78.5 ppg) and are 3rd in the nation in made threes per game (10.0).
• The Senators made just six threes in the loss to Malone in which they squandered an 18-point lead and scored 17 second-half points.
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Alderson Broaddus Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Battlers scored 46 points in the second half against Malone earlier this season as they trimmed a 19-point third-quarter deficit to just two points early in the fourth before falling 77-70.
• Senior point guard Lorin Clark (Minerva HS) led the team with 13 points and six assists in the loss. Clark is averaging 8.2 points per game and leads all of DII with 7.1 assists per game. She is also second in the G-MAC in steals (2.5 spg)
• Junior guard Jordan Parker leads the team in scoring (14.2 ppg) and ranks 5th in the G-MAC in made threes (64)
• As a team, Alderson Broaddus leads the league in steals with 10.1 per game but ranks last in the league in scoring defense (73.6 ppg)
• AB is coming off a 67-57 loss to Trevecca Nazarene last Saturday. Yasmin Norman, the Battlers' leading rebounder (5.6 rpg) scored a career-high 19.