The Malone University men's and women's basketball teams will travel to Vienna, West Virginia on Monday, January 15th to meet Ohio Valley University in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) doubleheader with the women's game to tip off at 5:30 pm and the men to follow at 7:30 pm. Both Pioneer teams enter Monday's matchups having won two in a row and they'll look to make it three straight in their only scheduled game against the Fighting Scots this season.

The Malone women come into the week with a 6-8 overall record and a 4-6 mark in conference. The 8th-place Pioneers will take on an OVU women's team that is 0-12 overall and 0-8 in the G-MAC.

The men's game will feature a 11-6 Pioneer squad that is 4-5 in the G-MAC facing a 2-11 Fighting Scots team that is 1-6 in the G-MAC. Malone comes into the week in 7th place in the conference standings.

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Women's Basketball GameDay
1/15 Malone at Ohio Valley – 5:30 pm
Video: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone

Series History
The Pioneers are 4-2 in six all-time meetings with Ohio Valley. The Pioneers picked up a 70-54 win over OVU in Vienna last season before routing the Scots 84-42 in Canton.

Malone Notes 

• The Pioneers will be playing their third game in five days after topping Lake Erie 86-77 on Thursday and upending Ursuline 73-62 on Saturday. The Pioneers produced their two most efficient offensive outputs of the season, shooting a 46.7% against Lake Erie and then making a season-high 51.9% vs. Ursuline.
• Baylen Dyrlund, who is averaging a team-high 14.3 points per game (9th in the G-MAC), poured in 38 points over the two victories. Dyrlund scored a career-high 22 points at Ohio Valley last season.
• Sophomore guard Holly Groff, the reigning G-MAC Player of the week, is averaging 10.1 points and 4.3 assists (3rd in the G-MAC). As a freshman, Groff scored a season-high 15 points in Malone's home win over OVU.
• Junior sharpshooter Chrissie Vaughan has at least one three in all 14 games this season and has hit two or more threes 11 times. Vaughan, who is scoring 10.9 points a night, drained three first-half threes and totaled 15 points in the win over Ursuline on Saturday.
• Sydney Wentling (8.6 ppg) has reached double digits in scoring in three straight games.
• Paiten Strother (5.9 ppg) tallied 10 points on Saturday, marking her third double-digit scoring effort this season. Strother has at least one three-pointer in five straight games.
• Malone ranks 5th in the G-MAC with 8.0 made threes per game. The Pioneers are 4th in the G-MAC in scoring defense (66.7 ppg) and they continue to lead the conference in free throws (79.6%).
   

• The Scots have struggled this season and are one of just four remaining winless teams in NCAA Division II. They are bottom-five in the country in field goal defense (45.9%), scoring defense (82.3 ppg) and average scoring margin (-21.1 ppg)
• Like Malone, Ohio Valley will also be playing its third game in five days after falling to Trevecca Nazarene 64-59 on Thursday before losing to Kentucky Wesleyan 88-59 on Saturday.
• The Fighting Scots' Amiaya Melvins leads the team in scoring (13.5 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg), total assists (34), and total steals (22).
   

• Junior guard Nate Sheppard scored 41 points in two games against Ohio Valley last season, including a 21-point, career-high five-assist performance on the road. Sheppard comes into the week averaging 16.4 ppg (6th in the G-MAC). He needs just seven more points to reach 1,000 in his career.
• Mitchell Spotleson, who already pulled off the 1,000-point achievement earlier this season, averaged 17.5 points in the two wins over OVU in 2017. He comes into the week averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. Spotleson secured a season-high 11 rebounds in Malone's 66-59 win over Lake Erie on Thursday and recently cracked the top-20 on Malone's all-time rebounding list.
• Senior guard Ty Jordan enters Monday's matchup ranked 2nd in the G-MAC in scoring at 20.8 points per game. He leads the conference in free-throw shooting (84.9%). Jordan has at least two threes in 15 of 17 games this season and he ranks 7th in DII in made threes (56). He also ranks 7th in the G-MAC in steals (1.5 spg) and is 6th assists (3.9 apg).
• Sophomore guard Daylan Haynie (6.1 ppg) is 3rd in the conference with 4.8 assists per game.
• In a season-high 29 minutes against Lake Erie on Thursday, freshman forward Marcus Ernst narrowly missed his first career double-double, finishing with nine points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Ernst and fellow frosh Jaret Majestic, who is shooting a remarkable 50% (28-for-56) from three, continue to make solid contributions off the Pioneer bench.
• As a team, Malone is shooting a conference-high 38.6% from three. The Pioneers also lead the conference in free throws (74.2%) and field goal defense (40.8%).
   

• After winning their season opener, the Fighting Scots dropped 11 straight before beating Kentucky Wesleyan 86-84 on Saturday.
• Like the Ohio Valley women, the OVU men are also bottom-five in DII in field goal defense (50.8%), scoring defense (91.8 ppg), and scoring margin (-15.5 ppg).
• Guard Dylan Harrison scored a team-high 23 points on Saturday and leads the team with 13.2 ppg this season.
• Serbian native Aleksandar Djordevic (11.2 ppg) is top-5 in the G-MAC in rebounds (7.5 rpg), assists (4.9 apg), and steals (1.8 spg). Djordevic has one of 12 triple-doubles in DII this season.