The Malone University women's basketball team will make a road trip to the Mountain State this week to meet Davis & Elkins College on Thursday, January 25th and Alderson Broaddus University on Saturday, January 27th in a pair of Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) matchups. The Pioneers (7-9, 5-7 G-MAC) remain in a fight for the 8th seed in the conference standings and could bolster their playoff aspirations with two wins against struggling opponents.
 
GameDay
1/25 Malone at Davis & Elkins – 5:30 pm
1/27 Malone at Alderson Broaddus – 2:00 pm
 
Both games will be streamed live via the Great Midwest Digital Network on portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
The women's games will precede the men's game during doubleheaders on both days.
 
Series History
After going 2-0 against D&E last season, the Pioneers suffered their first loss to the Senators, 74-71, earlier this season despite 20 points from Baylen Dyrlund. Malone is 5-1 all-time against Saturday's opponent Alderson Broaddus. The Pioneers picked up a 62-50 home win over the Battlers in a mutual conference opener in November.

Malone Notes

• Chrissie Vaughan scored a team-high 14 points in the win over AB, including four three-pointers. Vaughan has become one of the most prolific three-point shooters in Malone history and at 163 career threes is just 15 shy of second place all-time. The junior sniper has at least one three in all 16 games this season and at 10.9 points per game has become the Pioneers' second-leading scorer.
• Malone's leading scorer Baylen Dyrlund is averaging 13.7 points per game this season along with a team-high 6.2 rebounds. Dyrlund, who is 10th in the G-MAC in scoring, is 29 points shy of 600 in her Malone career and 15 rebounds shy of 300.
• Junior forward Naomi Grandison is three points shy of 400 in her career and is likely to reach the milestone this weekend. Grandison, who is averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds, made her return to the lineup on last Saturday against Walsh.
• In that game, which resulted in 63-54 Cavalier victory, sophomore point guard Holly Groff tossed in a career-high 20 points to raise her season average to 10.6 a game. Groff, who also ranks third in the G-MAC in assists (4.1 apg) is one of just five players in the Midwest Region averaging at least 10 points and four assists.
• In the last few weeks the Pioneers have seen increased production from Paiten Strother and Sydney Wentling. In seven games since the start of the New Year, Strother is scoring 8.7 ppg and grabbing 5.0 rebounds a night. Wentling, in her last five games, is averaging 12.2 points and nearly four rebounds. The two have combined for 44 threes on the season.
• As a team, Malone has 128 made threes this season, ranking 4th in the G-MAC with 8.0 per game. Sophomore guard Dani Drayer drained three triples against Alderson Broaddus earlier this season and netted a pair in Philippi last season. In the trip to Davis & Elkins in 2017, Chrissie Vaughan canned a career-high seven threes at the McDonnell Center.
• The Pioneers are just 3-4 in road games this season, but have won six straight games played in West Virginia dating back to last season.
   

Davis & Elkins Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Senators carry a 5-12 overall mark and a 3-10 record in the G-MAC. Since topping Malone in December, Davis & Elkins is just 3-9, including losses in four straight overall and in eight of their last nine conference games.
• D&E enters the week ranked 3rd in the nation in three-pointers per game (10.1) but they are last in the conference in three-point defense (35.2%) and next to last in scoring defense (76.2 ppg).
• Senior guard Aliyah Dukes, who is 8th in DII in the threes per game (3.1), ranks 3rd in the G-MAC in scoring at 18.9 ppg. She scored 23 against Malone earlier this season.
   

Alderson Broaddus Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Battlers, who face Walsh on Thursday before hosting Malone on Saturday, are currently 4-12 on the season and 2-11 in the G-MAC. They come into the week having lost five straight and are being outscored by nearly 12 points a night this season.
• Senior guard Jordan Parker leads the team in scoring at 13.4 points a night.
• AB held Malone to just 31.3% shooting in November and recorded six blocked shots. 6'2" Sophomore forward Myriam Garcia tallied five of those blocks along with 13 points and 11 boards.