The Malone University women's basketball dropped to 8-11 on the season and 6-9 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference after suffering an 83-62 loss to Cedarville University Tuesday night on the road. Cedarville, one of the hottest teams in the nation, earned its ninth straight victory to improve to 17-3 overall and 12-2 in the G-MAC.
 
Recap
The Lady Jackets, who boast the fifth-most efficient offense in terms of field goal percentage in NCAA Division II, led from start to finish as the Pioneers struggled to find consistency on both ends of the court, especially in the first half. An 8-0 CU run to start the game was cut to three points on a three from Holly Groff and a layup by Naomi Grandison midway through the opening stanza, but that was as close as Malone would ever get again.
 
Despite threes from Paiten Strother and Sydney Wentling, Malone had fallen behind 23-12 after one quarter. By halftime, the Pioneers trailed 45-25 as they were outshot 56.7% (17-30) to 26.7% (8-30).
 
Malone regrouped at the break and managed to outscore Cedarville 21-20 in the third quarter using threes from Grandison, Groff, Strother and Dani Drayer, but the continued defensive woes and the first-half deficit proved to be too big to overcome.
 
With the game out of reach in an otherwise nondescript final quarter, freshman Brittany Coonce tallied her first collegiate points on a layup with 44 seconds remaining.
 
Game Highlights
-Cedarville finished the game 30-for-53 (56.6%) from the field and 9-of-18 (50.0%) from three-point range.
-Malone, meanwhile, shot 22-of-59 (37.3%) from the field and 8-of-20 (40.0%) from downtown. The Pioneers bounced back from a slow first half to shoot 14-for-29 (48.3%) in the second.
-The Jackets outrebounded Malone 35-26 and held a 12-6 advantage in points off of turnovers.
-Malone committed just nine turnovers on the night, marking a season-low.
-CU earned a season sweep of the Pioneers after defeating Malone 78-70 in Canton earlier this month.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Holly Groff tallied a team-high 15 points to go along with three assists.
-Naomi Grandison added nine points and three rebounds.
-In a season-high 23 minutes off the bench, Sydney Foster recorded seven points and three assists.
-Paiten Strother and Ellen Doyle each collected six points.
 
Cedarville Individual Highlights
-Regina Hochstetler scored a game-high 26 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block.
-Breanne Watterworth (7-8 FG) finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.
-Baylee Bennett added seven points and a game-high seven assists.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers will face another stiff test on Thursday (Feb. 1) when they host a talented University of Findlay club at 8:00 pm