The Malone University women's basketball team begins Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play this week with a pair of home contests. The Pioneers will host Ohio Valley University this Thursday, November 29th at 6:00 pm before welcoming Ohio Dominican University on Saturday, December 1st for a 1:00 pm tipoff. The women's game will precede the men's game as part of a doubleheader on both dates. Following Saturday's contest, Malone will not play again on Osborne Hall's Hal Smith Court until 2019 as the Pioneers head out on the road for their next six games.
 
GameDay
11/29 Malone vs. Ohio Valley – 6:00 pm
12/01 Malone vs. Ohio Dominican – 1:00 pm
Live video/stats: All games will be streamed live via the Great Midwest Digital Network on portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
 
Series History
In seven all-time meetings with Ohio Valley, Malone holds a 5-2 all-time advantage, including wins in four straight. The last four games versus the Fighting Scots have all been decided by at least 15 points. Against Ohio Dominican, the Pioneers are 32-32 all-time despite five straight losses. The Panthers prevailed 80-77 in overtime when the two teams met last season in Canton.

Malone Notes

• The Pioneers, now 2-3 on the season, are coming off an 81-75 non-conference overtime victory Salem last Wednesday on the road where they overcame a 10-point first-half deficit.
• Junior forward Ellen Doyle scored the team's first nine points in the contest and finished with a career-high 25 points. In 48 career games, it was just the second time she reached double digits in scoring, surpassing a previous career-high of 15. Doyle, who added seven rebounds and three assists in the win, leads the team in rebounding (6.8 rebounds per game) and is averaging 10.2 points per game.
• Freshman guard Robin Campbell leads the team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and assists (15) and is second in rebounds (6.6 rpg).
• Senior guard Chrissie Vaughan is next for the Pioneers averaging 8.2 points along with a team-high 10 three-pointers. She is two points away from 800 in her career.
• Senior forward Naomi Grandison (7.2 ppg) and junior guard Sydney Wentling (6.2 ppg) are Malone's fourth and fifth leading scorers. In Malone's loss to Ohio Dominican last season, the pair combined for 32 points.
• In last season's 69-54 January road win over Ohio Valley, in which Malone led by as many as 29 late in the third quarter, Paiten Strother knocked down three of four three-pointers and finished with nine points.
• With a team-high four steals, Strother leads a Malone defense which ranks second in the conference in opponent field goal percentage (36.6%) and fourth in opponent scoring (62.8 ppg). Malone also ranks third in rebounding margin (+3.0 rpg).
• Malone, who was picked 11th among the 14 teams in the G-MAC Preseason Coaches Poll, posted an 8-14 mark in league play last season. Ohio Dominican (14-8 in 2017-18) was picked fifth. Ohio Valley (0-22) was slotted 14th.
• The Pioneers have won their G-MAC opener in each of the last two seasons.
   

Ohio Valley Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Scots come into the week at 0-3 on the season. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, OVU has lost 37 straight games. The average margin of defeat in those games is 24.4 points (80.3 to 55.9).
• This season, Ohio Valley has been outscored by nearly 26 points in its three losses, including a 78-48 defeat to Lake Superior State in its most recent game two weeks ago.
• Freshman guard Kyrin Baklund leads the team in scoring (12.7 ppg), assists (6) and steals (6). Senior forward Ariel Johnson (7.0 ppg) leads the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg) and blocks (3). She scored a team-high 15 points in the 69-54 loss to Malone last season.
   

Ohio Dominican Notes - Roster | Schedule | Stats

• The Panthers, who will play Walsh on Thursday prior to coming to Malone Saturday, enter the week with a 3-2 mark. ODU comes in scoring 75.8 ppg (third-most in the G-MAC).
• The Ohio Dominican offense ranks 20th in Division II in field goals (46.6%) and they lead the country in three-point shooting at a staggering 47.2% (42-for-89). The defense, however, ranks last in the G-MAC in scoring (83.0 ppg) and field goals (46.2%), although the Panthers have faced the top-2 scoring teams in DII in Glenville State (117.4 ppg) and Ashland (97.8).
• Ohio Dominican is led by guards Alexa Fisher (17.0 ppg), Angela Troyer (14.0 ppg), and Alexis Overly (12.3 ppg). Troyer is second in the G-MAC in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and field goal percentage (52.7%) and leads the conference with 12 steals. Fisher, who ranks third in the conference in scoring, is the reigning G-MAC Player of the Week.