The Malone University women's basketball team heads to the central time zone this week for a pair of Great Midwest Athletic Conference affairs against Trevecca Nazarene University on Thursday, January 4th and Kentucky Wesleyan College on Saturday, January 6th. The Malone women will precede the Malone men during doubleheaders on both days.
 
After winning their G-MAC opener, the Pioneers (3-7) have lost five straight in conference and now sit in 10th among the 13 teams in the league standings. Malone would benefit immensely with wins over the Trojans (3-10, 1-6 G-MAC), who are one spot behind the Pioneers in 11th, and the Panthers (6-5, 2-5 G-MAC), who are 8th and currently hold the final playoff spot.
 
GameDay
1/4 Malone at Trevecca Nazarene – 7:00pm ET (6:00 pm CT)
1/6 Malone at Kentucky Wesleyan – 2:00 pm ET (1:00 pm CT)
 
Series History
Malone comes into the week 2-4 all-time against Trevecca, including two wins a season ago. The Pioneers picked up a 62-43 win over TNU in Nashville before winning 79-60 in Canton. In the first game, Chrissie Vaughan recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. In the second game, Baylen Dyrlund scored a game-high 18.
 
The Pioneers also went 2-0 against Kentucky Wesleyan in the first two meetings between the schools last season. In an 82-69 win in Owensboro, Dyrlund scored a then career-high 21 points. She followed that up 19 points in a 75-64 win at home.

Malone Notes 

• The Pioneers are coming off of an 80-77 overtime loss to Ohio Dominican last Thursday and a 78-70 loss to Cedarville on Tuesday.
• Malone held a second quarter lead over the Yellow Jackets, who were among the teams receiving votes in the DII National Poll, but a 20-point swing over the final five minutes of the second quarter and the first five of the third proved to be its undoing.
• Baylen Dyrlund was an efficient 9-of-15 from the floor against Cedarville on Tuesday on her way to a game-high 20 points. She scored 18 points against Ohio Dominican. On the season, she leads Malone and ranks 11th in the G-MAC with 14.2 points per game.
• Sophomore point guard Holly Groff scored a career-high 18 points against ODU and followed that up with 13 on Tuesday. In addition to leading Malone with nine steals, she is averaging 9.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and is 6th in the G-MAC with 3.8 assists.
• Naomi Grandison leads Malone in rebounding (5.7 rpg) and is second in scoring (10.7 ppg). She is shooting 94.1% (16-17) at the free throw line and 44.1% (15-34) from three.
• Paiten Strother is shooting a team-high 46.2% (12-26) from the three-point range this season. She drained four threes and tied career-high with 14 points vs. Cedarville.
• Against Ohio Dominican, Sydney Wentling (7.7 ppg) tallied a career-high 15 points and her third double-digit scoring effort in 10 games this season.
• Junior guard Chrissie Vaughan (9.2 ppg) has reached double-digits five times this season. Vaughan leads Malone in minutes played (32.1 mpg) and made three-pointers (22).
• As a team, Malone has made 77 three pointers this season and ranks 5th in the conference in three-point shooting percentage (33.3%).
• Defensively, the Pioneers are 5th in three-point percentage (31.3%). They are, however, last in the G-MAC and last in NCAA DII in opponents' field goal percentage (47.1%).
• The Pioneers have kept themselves in games by committing the third-fewest turnovers in the conference (15.1 tpg) and ranking 7th in the nation in free throws (80.6%).
   

Trevecca Nazarene Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• Since defeating Hillsdale on the final day of November, the Trojans went winless in the six December contests, including a 63-58 loss to Lake Erie in their most recent game last Thursday.
• While Malone comes into the week with the worst-ranked defense, Trevecca comes into the weekend last in the conference in scoring (59.5 ppg) and shooting (33.9%). The Trojans are, however, second in the G-MAC in turnover margin (+4.1 tpg) and steals (8.2 spg).
• Division I transfer Callie Hackett (Mercer) leads the Trojans and is 7th in the G-MAC, averaging 16.3 points per game. She also leads the team with 44 assists and has 22 steals. Fellow Division I transfer Brittin Boyer (Eastern Illinois) is scoring 8.3 points with 5.8 rebounds a night.
   

Kentucky Wesleyan Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Panthers, who face Walsh on Thursday prior to Saturday's game against Malone, dropped a 96-74 decision to Ursuline last Saturday in which they made a season-high 12 threes.
• KWC enters the weekend ranked third in the conference with 8.0 made threes per game. Despite the lopsided loss to Ursuline, the Panthers maintain the fourth-best scoring margin (+6.1 ppg) and the number two scoring defense (64.5 ppg). They lead the G-MAC in steals per game (12.2) and turnover margin (+5.82 tpg).
• Sophomore forward Keelie Lamb has 25 steals on the year and leads the team in scoring (11.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). Freshman guard Jenna Martin (9.6 ppg) leads the team in assists (30) and steals (27).