PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- On Saturday, the Malone University women's basketball team closed out their longest stretch of road games this season with a Great Midwest Athletic Conference matchup at Lake Erie College. 

The Pioneers (3-7, 3-7 G-MAC) grabbed a lead late in the first quarter that they held on to the rest of the way. The Storm (0-6, 0-6 G-MAC) rarely threatened Malone down the stretch as the Pioneers completed the season sweep of Lake Erie with a 58-42 win.

Malone won the earlier matchup this season played inside Osborne Hall by a final score of 112-63.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The game started slow with both teams struggling to find their way offensively. However, when Madison Hunter put the Pioneers up 7-6 with 2:14 left to play in the opening quarter, Malone never trailed again. 

Her layup actually served as the catalyst for a 9-2 Pioneer run to close out the opening quarter. Alexis Hutchison drilled her lone three-pointer of the game, Holly Groff turned a Lake Erie turnover into two points, and Hunter converted on a pair of free throws to give Malone a 14-8 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Despite struggling from beyond the three-point line all afternoon, the Pioneers really took control of the contest in the second quarter. 

Midway through the period Malone grabbed their first double-digit lead, again on a bucket by Hunter. The advantage quickly grew to 27-12 after back-to-back layups from Groff, and the Pioneers never trailed by less than 10 points the rest of the way. 

Malone held a 31-19 lead at halftime, and continued to outscore the Storm in the second half to pull away for the win. 

Emma Kallas opened up the third quarter with a layup to push the lead out to 33-19, and by the media stoppage the Pioneers advantage sat at 40-23.

Lake Erie fought back late in the quarter, but never got closer than 40-29. They eventually were forced to settle for a Malone 13-point lead heading into the final quarter. 

The teams traded scores early in the fourth, but a a 7-0 Pioneer run midway through the quarter ended all of the Storm's comeback hopes. 

It was Hunter again who started the run with a layup, while Groff connected on her lone basket from downtown, and Hutchison put Malone up 54-35 on a layup. 

The Pioneers closed out the final five minutes strong to earn the 58-42 victory. 

PIONEER POINTS

• Madison Hunter finished the afternoon 7-11 from the field to tie her season-high with 16 points. She also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds to finish with her first double-double of the season. 

• It was another 15+ point performance from guard Holly Groff. She finished with a game-high 18 points and has now scored double-digit points in eight of the ten games this season

• Although the final score was not as lopsided as the earlier meeting this season, Malone still finished with solid advantages in several key categories. They forced Lake Erie into 25 turnovers, and converted those into a 26 points on the offensive end of the floor. On the other side the Storm only scored four points off of Malone turnovers. The Pioneers also pulled down 19 offensive rebounds to just 8 for Lake Erie. Malone used those extra opportunities to score 18 second-chance points. Helped by their advantage on the offensive glass, and few easy transition baskets, the Pioneers outscored the Storm 46-26 on points in the paint.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone returns home next week for a G-MAC matchup with Ohio Valley University. Wednesday's tip-off against the Fighting Scots is set for 6:00 p.m. inside Osborne Hall.