The Malone University women's basketball team dropped its third straight contest on Tuesday afternoon in Osborne Hall, falling to Cedarville University 78-70 in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference showdown. With the loss, Malone fell to 3-7 on the season and 1-5 in the G-MAC while the Yellow Jackets improved to 9-3 (4-2 G-MAC).
 
Recap
Cedarville, who came into the contest ranked 2nd in the nation in three-point shooting percentage, knocked down two early triples during a 12-2 start over the first four minutes of the game. Malone fought back, however, with a 13-2 run, that included six points from Naomi Grandison, to take a 15-14 advantage before a third CU three gave the visitors a 17-15 lead after one.
 
Seven straight points from the Pioneers, including a three-pointer from Paiten Strother, to start the second quarter gave Malone what would be its largest lead of the game at 22-17. That lead was short-lived, though, as the Yellow Jackets outscored Malone 23-8 down the first-half stretch, adding three more treys on their way to a 40-30 halftime advantage.
 
After making six threes during the first half, Cedarville knocked down just one more trey in the second half. Their seventh and final three gave the Lady Jackets a 52-37 lead, their largest of the game, midway through the third period before the Malone perimeter defense tightened up.
 
Entering the fourth quarter still trailing 60-46, the Pioneer offense began to slowly chip away at the lead. A Paiten Strother three-pointer at the 4:37 mark cut the score to single digits at 68-59 before a Holly Groff layup three possessions later made it a 68-61 contest. Strother then hit back-to-back threes inside of a minute remaining to shave the deficit down to six points (76-70) with just 33 seconds remaining.
 
Down by two possessions, Malone forced a five-second violation on the ensuing in-bounds pass, but failed to score on the next shot attempt. The Pioneers had another chance to shorten the lead following a pair of missed free throws from Cedarville, but once again came up empty. With just 19 seconds left, two made free throws from the Yellow Jackets all but extinguished a Malone comeback as the Pioneers came up empty twice more and were sent home with a 78-70 defeat.
 
Game Highlights
-Malone shot 23-of-54 (42.6%) from the field, 7-of-21 (33.3%) from three, and 17-of-21 (81.0%) at the free throw line.
-The Pioneers allowed Cedarville to shoot 58.7% (27-46) from the field, the highest by a Malone opponent this season, including 7-for-15 (46.7%) from three.
-The Yellow Jackets maintained a 30-25 advantage in rebounds and a 38-30 edge in points in the paint.
-The 30 points in the paint was a season-high for the Pioneers, who also committed a season-low 10 turnovers.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-A majority of those points in the paint came from Baylen Dyrlund, who shot 9-of-15 from the field and tied a season-high with 20 points. She added seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
-Paiten Strother tied a career-high with 14 points, including four three pointers. She added three rebounds, a block, and assist.
-A game after scoring a career-high 18 on Saturday, Holly Groff tossed in 13 points along with three assists.
-Chrissie Vaughan and Naomi Grandison each scored eight points. Vaughan added four assists.
 
Cedarville Highlights
-Kaitlyn Holm scored a team-high 16 points and handed out four assists.
-Baylee Bennett added 15 points and six rebounds.
-Regina Hochstetler totaled 13 points and five boards.
 
Up Next
Malone will travel to Nashville to take on Trevecca Nazarene on Thursday, January 4th at 7:00pm ET (6:00 pm CT).