The season came to an end for the Malone University women's basketball team Tuesday night in a 75-55 loss to Cedarville University in the quarterfinal round of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Championship. The #6 seed Pioneers led by 15 points in the first quarter, but were outscored 61-31 across the final periods as they watched their season, and for seniors Naomi Grandison, Paiten Strother, and Chrissie Vaughan their careers, come to a close.
 
With the loss, Malone finished 15-14 under first-year head coach Selana Reale. Cedarville, the G-MAC regular season co-Champions and #3 seed, improved to 23-6 on the season and 14-0 in their Callan Athletic Center.
 
Recap
After the Pioneers missed a shot on their first possession, they would make nine of their next 10 field goals, including two three-pointers by Paiten Strother, and one apiece from Chrissie Vaughan and junior forward Sydney Wentling. Wentling's triple at the 2:28 mark of the opening quarter gave Malone its largest lead of the game at 22-7.
 
In less time it took the Pioneers to build up the 15-point advantage, they saw it disappear. Cedarville used a 19-2 run to capture their first lead of the game midway through the second quarter. Malone regained the lead later in the period with a 7-0 run highlighted by another Wentling triple and a driving layup by freshman guard Robin Campbell. Down 34-31, Cedarville closed the half on a 6-0 spurt and never trailed again.
 
The Yellow Jackets pulled away in the third quarter, opening up on a 9-2 run before outscoring Malone 23-11. Down by 20 in the fourth, Malone gave it one last go, closing to within 12 points on a three-pointer by junior forward Ellen Doyle with just over four minutes to go, but the Yellow Jackets answered with a pair of three-pointers and went on to win 75-55. Cedarville will meet #2 Kentucky Wesleyan this Friday.
 
Game Highlights
-Cedarville, which entered the week as a top-5 three-point shooting team in the country, knocked down 11-of-22 (50%) of its three-point attempts.
-Overall, Cedarville shot 24-of-52 (46.2%) from the field and 16-of-18 (88.9%) at the free-throw line.
-After a 9-for-11 start, the Pioneers made just 12 of their final 44 shots (27.2%). They finished 21-for-55 (38.2%) from the field and 8-for-24 (33.3%) from deep.
-Cedarville outrebounded Malone 37-24 and outscored the Pioneers 21-7 in points off of turnovers.
-Malone held a 24-20 advantage in points in the paint and an 18-8 edge in bench points.
 
Malone Individual Highlights
-Sydney Wentling scored a team-high 14 points in 24 minutes off of the bench.
-Robin Campbell totaled 13 points and four rebounds.
-In her final collegiate game, Paiten Strother canned four three-pointers to finish with 12 points.
-Ellen Doyle added nine points, four boards, and a steal.
-Chrissie Vaughan extended her streak of making a three-pointer to 34 games in a row. She finished her career with 1,024 points – tied for 21st in Malone history. Her 241 career three-pointers are the second-most all-time.
 
Cedarville Individual Highlights
-Ashlyn Huffman (10-15 FG, 4-4 3PT) scored a game-high 25 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
-Abby Wolford added 22 points in just 22 minutes.