Following three straight road games, the Malone University women's basketball team will return home this weekend to host the University of Findlay on Thursday, February 1st and Hillsdale College (MI) on Saturday, February 3rd. Despite losing three of their last four games to fall to 6-9 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference and 8-11 overall, the Pioneers remain viable contenders for the 8th and final playoff spot and are locked into a three-way tie with Lake Erie and Trevecca Nazarene. The road to defending the G-MAC title won't get any easier this week as Malone welcomes two teams that already earned victories over the Pioneers earlier this season.
 
Faculty and Staff Appreciation
During halftime of Thursday's contest, honored educators selected by the seniors of the men's and women's basketball teams and the swimming & diving team will be recognized. Among the Malone professors to commended are Frank Alexander, Dr. Donna Bishop, Dr. Beth Clark-Thomas, Dr. Karyn Collie, Dr. James Glasgow, and Professor Ann Lawson.
 
GameDay
2/1 Malone vs. Findlay (15-4, 12-3 G-MAC) – 8:00 pm
2/3 Malone vs. Hillsdale (12-7, 10-5 G-MAC) – 3:00 pm
Live video and stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
Radio: ESPN 990 AM | www.espn990.com/listen.php
 
Series History
Against Thursday's opponent, Findlay, Malone is just 3-24 all-time. The Oilers claimed a 53-47 victory over the Pioneers on December 9th. Two days prior, Malone lost to Saturday's opponent, Hillsdale, 77-51. The Chargers are 5-2 in seven all-time meetings with MU.

Malone Notes 

• The Pioneers are coming off an 83-62 loss to G-MAC frontrunner Cedarville on Tuesday night. Sophomore point guard Holly Groff scored a team-high 15 points, the most she had ever scored in a road game. Groff is averaging 7.8 points per game on the road this season compared to 13.8 points per game on Osborne Hall's Hal Smith Court.
• Naomi Grandison checked in with nine points on Tuesday. She scored a team-high 14 points in the loss to Hillsdale in December. The 26-point margin at Hillsdale was Malone's most-lopsided loss of the season as they were without Baylen Dyrlund.
• Dyrlund, the Pioneers' leading scorer (12.5 ppg) and leading rebounder (5.9 rpg), tossed in a team-high 17 points against Findlay, who has been ranked as high as 25th in the nation this season.The 53 points scored by Findlay against Malone in December were the fewest scored by the Oilers in a game all year.
• The Pioneers have held their last four opponents to 66.5 ppg, but are giving up a 47.2% field goal percentage, a number that would rank last in the country. Malone has struggled offensively over that stretch as well, averaging just 56.5 points while shooting 35.6% from the field.
• Despite the overall scoring and shooting struggles, Malone has maintained consistency from three-point range, making 34.6% this season, including a 36.1% mark over the last nine games.
• Paiten Strother has been lighting it up from deep as of late. Over her last 10 games, she is 48.9% (22-of-45) from beyond the arc.
• Malone comes into Thursday's game with a 3-5 record.
   

Findlay Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Oilers began the season 12-1, but are just 3-3 in the last six games. In their most recent game last Saturday, they bested Kentucky Wesleyan 85-63.
• Findlay leads the G-MAC in scoring margin (+13.4 ppg) and ranks 3rd in NCAA DII in field goals (48.5%) and 2nd in threes (40.5%).
• Junior forward Anna Hintz is the team's leading scorer and the 4th-ranked scorer in the G-MAC at 18.3 ppg. Senior guard Lynsey Englebrecht (14.4 ppg), a 45.4% three-point shooter, leads the nation with 3.63 threes per game.
   

Hillsdale Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Chargers enter the week having won five of their last six, including a 69-65 win over red-hot Trevecca Nazarene last Saturday. They will play Walsh on Thursday before invading Osborne Hall on Saturday.
• Hillsdale, who outscored Malone 46-22 in the paint and outrebounded Malone 46-36, is number two in the country in rebounding margin (+11.9 rpg), but last in the G-MAC and bottom-10 in DII in turnover margin (-5.95 tpg).
• The HC offense features three of the top-12 scorers in the G-MAC in Makenna Ott (15.1 ppg), Brittany Gray (13.6 ppg), and Allie Dittmer (13.2 ppg). Gray scored 21 against Malone earlier this year. Dittmer is third in the G-MAC in rebounds (9.3 rpg) and second in shooting (58.2%).