The Malone University women's basketball team climbed to 17-6 on the season and 11-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference with an impressive 81-74 win at Cedarville University Thursday night. The Pioneers generated a two-game cushion for third place in the G-MAC standings over the Yellow Jackets, who dropped to 9-4 in the conference and 16-6 overall.
 
The win also snapped a 24-game home win streak for Cedarville, who last lost in the Callan Athletic Center in the 2017-18 season finale. The streak was at the time the fifth longest active streak in NCAA DII. Malone is 10-2 in road games this season; the Pioneers are also winners of four straight overall and nine of their last 10.
 
Recap
Malone set the tone in the first quarter, racking 29 points on 10-of-13 (76.9%) shooting. Sydney Wentling and Holly Groff combined for 17 points in the frame as Malone opened up a 29-21 lead.
 
The Pioneers extended their advantage to 11 points, 34-23, early in the second quarter but saw the margin dwindle to just two, 44-42, by halftime. The Jackets shot nearly 60% in the first half to keep Malone within reach.
 
Cedarville quickly regained the lead in the third period and stretched it to five points three separate times in the frame. Down 61-56 with under two minutes to play, fought back to end the quarter on an 8-2 run. Robin Campbell converted an old-fashioned three-point play, Groff knocked down a triple, and Ellen Doyle, who scored eight in the quarter, hit a buzzer-beating layup to put Malone up 64-63 entering the final stanza.
 
In the back-and-forth fourth quarter that featured six lead changes, the Jackets took a final 74-72 lead on a short jumper outside the paint, forcing Malone into a timeout with 2:05 remaining. From that point, Cedarville never scored again as the Pioneers closed the game on a 9-0 run.
 
Holly Groff delivered the decisive blow with an open three-pointer with 1:13 remaining. Her sixth three of the game gave Malone a 75-74 lead as the defense clamped down to hold the home team scoreless down the stretch. The Pioneers connected on all six of their free throw attempts in the final 18 seconds before calling it an 81-74 victory.

Game Highlights

• Malone shot 47.5% (28-of-59) overall and 47.6% (10-for-21) from deep. It was the fifth time in the last six games the Pioneers made at least 10 threes.
• Malone also shot 15-of-16 at the free-throw line, accounting for the difference in scoring.
• Cedarville shot 30-for-62 (48.4%) overall, 7-18 from three, and 7-of-10 at the free-throw line.
• Rebounds were even (32-32) and turnovers were close, 14-13 in favor of Malone. The Yellow Jackets enjoyed a 10-2 edge in second-chance points.
   

Pioneer Highlights

• Holly Groff scored 10 of her game-high 26 points in the pivotal fourth quarter. She tacked on three assists and two steals and added to her G-MAC lead with the six three-pointers.
• Fresh off a career-best 9-for-9 effort at Alderson Broaddus, Sydney Wentling shot 6-of-7 and totaled 16 points. She also tied a season-high with five assists and registered a 23 +/-
• Robin Campbell chipped in 14 points while Ellen Doyle finished with eight points
• Alexis Hutchison added seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.
   

Yellow Jacket Highlights

• Abby Wolford tallied a team-high 25 points and three steals.
• Ashlyn Huffman was the only other player to score in double figures, totaling 10 points along with a game-high seven assists.

Up Next
Malone will host Walsh in a battle of rivals this Monday, February 17th at 6:00 pm.