The Malone University women's basketball team visits Cedarville University this Tuesday, March 5th for an opening round matchup in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship. The game pits the G-MAC's best defense in Malone against its most efficient offense in Cedarville in what has the makings of a classic give-and-take battle. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 pm.
 
When the two teams met on January 2nd, Cedarville won 79-61 in Canton as the Pioneers dropped to 4-9 in the conference and just 2-5 in the G-MAC. Since that game, however, Malone, under first-year head coach Selana Reale has gone 11-4 in its last 15 games and cemented itself as a serious postseason threat.
 
The Pioneers finished 15-13 during the regular season and 13-9 in G-MAC play. Malone clinched the #6 seed in the Championship bracket while Cedarville claimed a share of the regular season title, but were awarded the #3 seed by virtues of tiebreakers. The Yellow Jackets finished 22-6 overall and 18-4 in the G-MAC.
 
GameDay
3/5 Malone at Cedarville – 5:30 pm
Live video/stats: portal.stretchinternet.com/malone
 
What's at Stake?
The winner of Tuesday night's contest will face the winner of #2 Kentucky Wesleyan and #7 Ohio Dominican on Friday, March 8th at a site to be determined. The winner of the eight-team G-MAC Championship Tournament, which also includes #1 Walsh, #4 Findlay, #5 Hillsdale, and #8 Trevecca Nazarene, receives an automatic berth to Midwest Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. Cedarville entered last week ranked ninth in the Region.
 
Series History
Including January's home loss to the Yellow Jackets, the Pioneers are 13-32 all-time against Cedarville and 0-3 in the last three meetings.
 
Postseason History
The last time Malone defeated Cedarville was in the 2016-17 G-MAC Championship Semifinals when the Pioneers went on to win the Conference Title and advance to the NCAA Tournament. Prior to that season, the last time Malone made the postseason was in 2013-14 when Reale, then a junior at Malone, led the Pioneers to the GLIAC Final.

Team Comparison (G-MAC Rank in parentheses)

Malone	Category	Cedarville
60.4 (11)	Points	74.9 (3)
60.5 (1)	Pts. Allowed	65.2 (6)
-0.1 (6)	Scoring Margin	+9.7 (4)
37.7% (11)	FG%	46.0% (1)
37.5% (1)	Opponent FG%	40.5% (6)
32.6% (8)	3-Point%	39.9% (1)
8.5 (4)	3-Point FG Made	9.8 (3)
74.2% (2)	FT%	77.0% (1)
36.1 (8)	Rebounds	33.8 (12)
-2.1 (9)	Rebound Margin	-0.2 (6)
5.5 (13)	Steals	6.1 (12)
-1.3 (10)	Turnover Margin	+2.4 (3)

Malone Notes

• The Pioneers went 2-0 last weekend to guarantee themselves just their second winning season in the last five years. Malone bounced back from a February 23rd loss to Walsh with wins over Ursuline and Lake Erie.
• In the 60-59 win against Ursuline, the Pioneers rushed out to a 14-point first-quarter lead, held on late, and withstood a last-second shot to earn the victory. Senior guard Chrissie Vaughan led the team with 15 points and reached 1,000 for her career during the win.
• On Saturday, the Pioneers gave an inspired defensive effort, holding the Storm to just nine first-half points and 12 total field goals in a 56-34 victory.
• The Pioneers tied a season-high with 12 three-pointers in the win over Lake Erie, marking the 10th time this season they have made at least 10 treys. Malone is 9-1 in those 10 games.
• The Malone defense, which has been its biggest strength all season, held the Storm to just 24.0% shooting, the second-lowest by an opponent all year.
• Malone gave up a season-high 79 points and a 53.6% shooting performance to Cedarville in January, however, so the Pioneer defense will have something to prove on Tuesday
• Over the last two seasons, the three-most efficient shooting efforts by an opponent have all been by Cedarville, who shot 58.7% and 56.6% in two wins last winter.
• In the loss to Cedarville this season, freshman point guard Robin Campbell led Malone with 17 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Campbell leads the team and ranks fifth in the G-MAC with 14.1 points per game.
• Campbell also ranks first in the G-MAC in assists per game (4.3) and minutes per game (36.2). She leads Malone in shooting (44.5%) and three-point shooting (43.8%) and is second in rebounds (5.5 rpg) and steals (30).
• Senior guard Chrissie Vaughan is second on the team in scoring this season, averaging 9.4 points per game. Over the last 10 games, Vaughan averaged 12 points an outing.
• Vaughan leads Malone in steals (33), blocks (15), and made three-pointers (55). She is also one of only two players in the G-MAC to make a three-pointer in every game this season.
• Seniors Paiten Strother (6.0 ppg) and Naomi Grandison (6.6 ppg) are second and third on the team in three-pointers with 35 and 32 respectively. Strother has shot 55% (11-of-20) from three-point range over the last six games.
• Forward Ellen Doyle rounds on the starting five in the midst of a breakout junior campaign. Doyle leads the team in rebounding (6.0 rpg) and is third in scoring (8.6 ppg).
• Junior sixth-man Sydney Wentling has come off the bench to average 8.3 points per game. Wentling, who scored a team-high 13 points in the win vs. Lake Erie, is second on the team in field goal percentage (43.8%) and three-point shooting efficiency (38.7%).
• Freshmen Madison Hunter and Mikayla Poole have also provided valuable minutes off the bench for the Pioneers. Hunter is coming off of a 10-rebound performance vs. Lake Erie while Poole has made seven threes in the last five games.
• As a team, Malone is 24th in the nation in three-pointers per game and also ninth in Division II in fewest fouls per game (13.5).
• The Pioneers enter Tuesday night's contest with a 7-7 record away from home, including wins in three straight.

Cedarville Notes -  Roster | Schedule | Stats

• After losing three straight in the first week of February, the Yellow Jackets have won six in a row to close out the regular season. In their most recent game, Cedarville knocked down 13 three-pointers in an 80-55 win at Alderson Broaddus on Saturday.
• Cedarville enters the postseason ranked third in Division II in three-point shooting, sixth in made threes per game and 16th in overall shooting. The Yellow Jackets are also fourth in DII in fewest turnovers with just over 11 per game.
• Over the last five games, the Yellow Jackets have averaged nearly 14 three-pointers per game while shooting 47.3% from beyond the arc. In the 16 games in which they have made at least 10 three-pointers, they are 14-2.
• Senior guard Baylee Bennett, who went 5-of-5 from distance and scored a team-high 17 points against Malone in January, leads the G-MAC in three-pointers (80) and three-point percentage (46.5%). At 12.0 points per game, she is one of four Yellow Jackets scoring in double figures.
• Guards Abby Wolford (12.3 ppg), Ashlyn Huffman (12.3 ppg), and Regina Hochstetler (10.8 ppg) fill out a balanced scoring unit. Huffman leads the team and ranks second in the G-MAC with 4.0 assists per game. Hochstetler and Wolford lead the team with 28 and 26 steals respectively.
• Six-foot freshman forward Alli Roh, the only starter taller than 5'7", averages 7.1 points, leads the team with 5.7 rebounds a night, and is tied for third in the G-MAC with 30 blocks.
• Cedarville is led by third-year head coach Kari Hoffman, who has guided her team to a 46-12 record over the last two seasons and back-to-back G-MAC regular season titles.
• Cedarville enters the tournament undefeated at home (13-0) this year. Over the past five years, the Yellow Jackets are 66-9 at the Callan Athletic Center.