VIENNA, West Virginia -- The Malone University women's basketball team went on the road Tuesday night for a crucial Great Midwest Athletic Association contest at Ohio Valley University.

The Pioneers (8-10, 8-10 G-MAC) opened up a huge lead early over the Fighting Scots (0-14, 0-14 G-MAC) and were never really challenged en route to an 84-44 win. 

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Malone's offense was unstoppable early on in the game. The Pioneers converted on their first five field goal attempts of the evening. The fifth came on a three-point basket by Alexis Hutchison that gave the Pioneers their first double-digit lead of the game at 14-4. 

Malone's lead never fell below the double-digit mark for the remainder of the night. 

The Pioneer defense limited OVU to just ten points in the opening quarter. On the other hand Malone's offense shot 70.59% (12-17) from the field in the first ten minutes. 

Olivia Clark closed out the quarter with a layup that gave the Pioneers a 29-10 lead. 

The second quarter was much of the same on the defensive end of the floor for Malone. The Fighting Scots could only manage eight total points in the quarter. 

Malone's offense was quieted somewhat, but still was able to build on their advantage. 

Lexi Manos opened up the scoring in the second with a three-point play to give the Pioneers their first 20 point lead of the night. Malone continued to stretch out that number, eventually taking a 45-18 lead to the halftime break. 

The third quarter was much more evenly matched in terms of scoring as the Fighting Scots were able to match an early Pioneer run with one of their own, but that was not nearly enough to threaten the huge first half Malone put together. 

Back-to-back free throws from Nikki Weber gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the quarter at 59-23, but OVU closed the quarter on a 10-3 run to get the deficit back down to 62-33.

Madison Hunter connected a three-pointer midway through the fourth to push Malone's advantage back out to thirty, and the Pioneers never looked back down the stretch. 

13 different players played in the game, and 12 of them found their way into the scoring column as Malone put the finishing touches on an 84-44 victory.

PIONEER POINTS

• Tonight marks the second time this season that Malone has held an opponent under 50 points in a single game. Malone limited Lake Erie to just 42 points on January 16. The 40-point final margin is also the second-largest of the year. In the first matchup with Lake Erie the Pioneers picked up a 49 point win.
• Once again Alexis Hutchison led the offensive attack for Malone, tonight finishing with a team-high 13 points. 

• The Pioneers dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 39-23. That advantage led to 16 second-chance points for Malone.

• Malone's offense finished the night 52.5% (32-61) from the field. That is their second-best shooting percentage of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Malone will be back in action on Thursday when they take on the Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans.