The Malone University women's basketball had three players score 15 points in a 72-60 win over Ursuline College Thursday evening in the first Great Midwest Athletic Conference game of the season. With their third straight victory, the Pioneers improved to 5-3 on the season.
 
Recap
Five different Pioneers made a field goal in the opening stanza, which featured two ties and three lead changes. Malone fell behind by five points early but fought back to tie the game 15-15 on corner threes by Sydney Wentling and Holly Groff and a putback layup from Alexis Hutchison.
 
Sophomore guard Mikayla Poole, who knocked down an open three in the first period, sank back-to-back treys to start the second quarter and put Malone up by six. The Arrows narrowed the gap to two points at 27-25 near the midway mark of the quarter, but Malone closed the session on a 9-2 run. Poole would finish with 14 first-half points as the Pioneers led 36-27 at the intermission.
 
Poole drained another three-pointer early in the third quarter to give Malone a double-digit advantage. A lengthy scoring drought, which featured four Pioneer turnovers, gave Ursuline time to trim the deficit to just two points at 43-41 with two minutes to play in the quarter. Holly Groff answered with a three-ball to keep Malone in front heading into the fourth.
 
Groff canned two more triples in the first 90 seconds of the final quarter, but the Arrows refused to go away, keeping within striking distance throughout the frame. With 3:40 remaining, Malone was still clinging to a 58-55 lead when Campbell buried a three-pointer from the right wing. The next two possessions saw Wentling can a baseline jumper and then an open three-pointer as Malone went up by eight (66-58).
 
The Pioneers extended their lead to 12 with six free throws in the final 32 seconds as they held on for their eighth victory in their last nine regular G-MAC contests dating back to last season.

Game Highlights

• Malone drained 12-of-30 (40%) shots from three-point range to account for exactly half of their offense. Overall, Malone was 25-of-56 (44.6%) from the field.
• The Arrows shot 40% (24-of-60) overall, but were just 5-of-18 (27.8%) from distance and 7-for-14 (50%) at the free-throw line.
• The Pioneers were guilty of 23 turnovers (16 steals) which resulted in 24 Ursuline points.
• Malone, however, outrebounded Ursuline 42-30, and outscored the Arrows 9-2 in second chances and 23-15 from the bench.

Pioneer Highlights

• Mikayla Poole led the bench scoring with a career-high 17 points on 6-8 shooting, 4-for-5 from deep. She added three steals and three rebounds in 25 minutes played.
• Holly Groff also made four treys and finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
• Sydney Wentling matched Groff with 15 points on 5-7 shooting (3-5 3PT).
• Ellen Doyle chipped in eight points and six boards.
• Robin Campbell provided seven points, a team-high eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
• Emma Kallas snagged seven rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.
   

Arrow Highlights

• Julia Cardwell (6-9 FG, 4-6 3PT) scored a team-high 16 points.
• Tamara Mathis added 10 points, a team-high nine rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

Up Next
Malone is idle until next Saturday, December 14th when they head out on the road for a G-MAC showdown with Ohio Dominican.