The Malone University women's basketball team secured a wire-to-wire 72-62 victory over Tiffin University Saturday afternoon in Osborne Hall as four different players scored at least 13 points. The win improved Malone to 5-9 on the season and 3-5 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The loss dropped Tiffin to 3-10 on the year and 0-6 in the G-MAC.
 
Recap
Facing a Tiffin team which gives up the second-most points of any team in the G-MAC, Malone had little trouble scoring early as back-to-back three-point shots by Naomi Grandison gave Malone a 10-2 lead over the first three minutes and change. The Pioneer lead swelled to 17-4 by the 3:46 mark before Tiffin began to battle back.
 
By the end of the first period, the Dragons trimmed the deficit seven points (19-12), but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the game. The Pioneers went to work from beyond the arc in the second quarter, making five three-pointers. Junior forward Ellen Doyle canned a pair of treys, classmate Sydney Wentling netted two more, and Grandison added another bonus bomb to give Malone a 38-25 lead at the half.
 
The Pioneers were 8-of-16 (50%) from three-point range over the first 20 minutes.
 
Freshman point guard Robin Campbell, who flirted with a triple-double in the victory, scored nine points in the third quarter as Malone extended its lead to as many as 23 points before taking a 57-37 advantage into the fourth.
 
Tiffin outscored Malone 25-15 in the final frame and cut the deficit all the way down to nine points with just under two minutes left, but it was too little too late as Malone snapped a four-game losing streak and won just its second game since late November.
 
Game Highlights
-The Pioneers finished with a season-high 12 three-pointers on 29 attempts (41.4%). By contrast, Tiffin went just 3-of-13 (23.1%) from deep.
-Overall, Malone shot 41.2% (28-for-68) from the field while Tiffin made 25-of-61 (41.0%) field goal attempts and 9-of-10 free throws.
-The Dragons outscored Malone 42-26 in the paint.
-The Pioneers, however, outrebounded their opponents 42-36 and held a 13-4 advantage in second-chance points and a 13-6 edge in points off turnovers.
-Malone's 28 field goals tied a season-high and its 16 assists were second-most this season.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Robin Campbell nearly pulled off a triple-double, contributing 19 points, a season-high 12 rebounds, and a season-high eight assists. All of her assists came during the first half.
-Ellen Doyle totaled 18 points – the second-most of her career – to go along with four boards, two assists, and a steal.
-Naomi Grandison went 4-of-5 from three and finished with 14 points.
-Sydney Wentling added 13 points.
-Chrissie Vaughan was the only other Pioneer to crack to scoring column, recording eight points in addition to five rebounds, and three assists.
 
Tiffin Individual Highlights
-Jensen Hiegel scored a team-high 19 points to go along with three assists.
-Aarion Nichols totaled 16 points and nine rebounds.
 
Up Next
The Pioneers will be off until next Saturday, January 12th when they travel to Walsh for a rivalry game.