CANTON – After a break for the Christmas holiday, the Pioneers will head on the road for their final game of the 2021 calendar year. The Malone University Pioneers will travel to No. 8-ranked Ashland University for another Great Midwest Athletic Conference match up against the Eagles. 

It will be a match-up between the two best field goal shooting percentage teams in the G-MAC, with Ashland shooting 48.2% over 10 games and Malone coming up just behind them with 47.6% over 11 games.

Matchup: Malone University Pioneers (7-4, 3-2 G-MAC) at No. 8 Ashland University Eagles (9-1, 4-0 G-MAC)
Where: Ashland, Ohio
When: Wednesday, December 29 | 5:30 p.m.
Live Video Stream: Great Midwest Digital Network
Live Stats: Great Midwest Digital Network

Rebound Needed After Couple of Road Losses
The Pioneers last two games have been nail-biting, with the December 18th match up at West Liberty University tied with 2:47 left in the game and the December 20th match up at Ursuline College tied with a 1:39 to go. While both games were tied late, it was the late opponent offensive push by both the Hilltoppers and the Arrows that pushed them to victory. 

In their most recent match up on the court, the Pioneers tipped off against the Arrows in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Emma Kallas led the offensive charge with 14 points, including the opening possession layup that started a Malone 11-2 run. Holly Groff also scored in double digits and grabbed 2 steals. Alexis Hutchison finished with a game-high 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal.

As a team the Pioneers scored 21 points off the 18 turnovers they force on Ursuline as well as 34 points scored in the paint and 28 points off the bench. But the effort was not enough for the win as Ursuline went 7-of-9 from the charity stripe within the last 1:39 of the game.

After the week and a half break for the Christmas holiday, the Pioneers will look to rebound from the recent close loses as they head on the road again to face the Eagles of Ashland University.

Hardwood Series
Wednesday's game in Ashland will be the 25th all-time meeting between the Eagles and the Pioneers, with Ashland holding a strong 15-9 series lead.

The last time the two teams met was in March 2017, in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Quarterfinal, when the Pioneers made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after winning the 2016-2017 season GMAC Championship. While Malone held Ashland to a season-low 72 points, the Pioneer offense struggled to a season-low 40 points. Ashland would go on to win the National Championship and finish a perfect 37-0 on the season. Malone finished their season 23-7 after the loss.

Knowing Your Opponent
Ashland comes into this game on a six-game winning streak, including a perfect 4-0 in GMAC match ups. The most recent win came as an 87-49 win over Le Moyne College at home on December 20th. 

Junior forward Annie Roshak became the 27th player in program history to score 1,000 career points in the match up and followed Senior guard Hallie Heidemann who scored her 1,000th career point with four seconds to go in the December 18th match up at Tiffin University. The Eagles now have three active players in the 1,000 point club with Roshak, Heidemann, and Senior Forward Karlee Pireu, who achieved the benchmark in February 2021.

On December 21st, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 Coaches Poll was released and for the third consecutive week the Ashland Eagles moved up one spot to now be slotted at No. 8 (the same rank as the WBCA preseason poll). Ashland's all-time record as a ranked team is 239-16 (.937).

Looking Ahead
Malone will begin the 2022 portion of their season with two conference home games. On January 3rd, they will host the Dragons of Tiffin University. Tip off from Osborne Hall is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.