The Malone University women's basketball team earned its third win in five days by defeating Ohio Valley University 69-54 Monday night on the road. With the win, the Pioneers improved to 7-8 overall and 5-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Fighting Scots, meanwhile, dropped to 0-13 on the season and 0-9 in the G-MAC.
 
Recap
Senior forward Baylen Dyrlund scored the Pioneers' first six points in a tightly contested first quarter that saw the Fighting Scots leading 11-10 over the first six minutes. A pair of free throws from G-MAC Player of the Week Holly Groff with 3:46 remaining in the period gave Malone a 12-11 lead it would never relinquish.
 
After carrying a 17-12 edge into the second quarter, the Pioneers began to pull away. Dyrlund scored the first four Pioneer points of the period, Keri Hill hit a pair of putback layups, Chrissie Vaughan drilled a 15-footer, Sydney Foster scored on a fastbreak layup, and Paiten Strother heated up from deep. Strother drilled three three-pointers in the quarter as her third trey with just four seconds left in the half put the Pioneers up 38-20 at the break.
 
Third-quarter threes by Groff, Sydney Wentling, Vaughan, and Foster helped Malone to a 60-32 advantage going into the fourth. With the lead in hand, head coach Rick Tice went to his second unit in the final frame. The Fighting Scots trimmed the lead to 15, but never seriously threatened as the Pioneers rolled to their third straight win.
 
Game Highlights
-Malone finished the night 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the field, 7-of-23 (30.4%) from three, and 6-of-7 (85.7%) from the line.
-Ohio Valley shot just 32.1% (17-53) from the floor and only 10% (2-20) from three, but netted 78.3% (18-23) from the free throw line.
-The Pioneers outrebounded the Scots 41-30 and outscored OVU 28-18 in the paint.
-Ohio Valley forced Malone into a season-high 24 turnovers, including 13 steals. OVU outscored Malone 20-14 in points off of turnovers.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Baylen Dyrlund totaled 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting to lead all scorers. She added five rebounds.
-Chrissie Vaughan collected 11 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
-In a stat-stuffing performance, Sydney Wentling tallied 10 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
-Paiten Strother scored all nine of her points in the second quarter to go along with three boards, three assists, and two blocks.
-Sydney Foster (4-5 FG) scored a career-high nine points in 20 minutes off the bench.
-Holly Groff provided eight points, two assists, and a steal.
 
Ohio Valley Individual Highlights
-Ariel Johnson (5-5 FG, 5-5 FT) netted a team-high 15 points
-Amiaya Melvins recorded eight points, a game-high 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
-Zae Sellers added nine points and a game-high six steals.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers, playing their best basketball of the season, will return to Canton to face rival Walsh this Saturday, January 20th at 3:00 pm.