CANTON -- Thursday night, the Malone University women's basketball team played their first game of the 2022 calendar year after a postponement of the game against Tiffin on January 3rd.

The Pioneers (8-5, 4-3 G-MAC) controlled the whole game, and held an eight point lead at halftime. Findlay (5-8, 3-4 G-MAC) then fought back at the end of the second half, however Malone held strong and was able to secure the 65-64 win.

The Pioneers now seem to be back on track after breaking their four game losing streak.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Pioneers scored the opening five points of the game on a layup by Kelsey Swihart and a three-pointer by Holly Groff and they never looked back.

Malone's first double digit lead of the night came after Alexis Hutchison's layup on a fast break at the 4:55 mark in the first quarter.

Unfortunately, the Oilers went on a huge run to make it 19-23, but Robin Campbell quickly answered back with a layup to initiate another big run for the Pioneers. 

With 36 seconds left in the half, Kyli Horn converted on a jumper off her own steal, but Findlay ended up knocking down a jumper with four seconds left to decrease their deficit down to 31-39 at the end of the half.

The Oilers continued to battle hard in the beginning of the third quarter, reducing Malone's lead to just five points, however five unanswered points by Swihart extended the Pioneers lead back to double digits. 

Malone continued to pull away in the beginning of the fourth quarter after a jumper and trey by Hutchison to put the Pioneers up 55-40, their largest lead of the night. 

However, Findlay did not go quietly. The Oilers outscored Malone 10-3 down the stretch to only trail 64-65 with 33 seconds left in the game. 

With one second left in the game, Findlay had an opportunity to win the game with a shot from downtown, but a block by Alexis Hutchison allowed the Pioneers to break their four game losing streak. 


PIONEER POINTS

• Robin Campbell led Malone with 14 points. She also distributed seven assists to lead the Pioneers.
• Alexis Hutchison (13) and Kelsey Swihart (11) also scored in the double-digits for the Pioneers. Hutchison had a team-high and season-high seven rebounds, and Swihart had a season-high two steals.
• Malone outscored Findlay 21-10 in points off turnovers and 11-2 in fast break points.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Pioneers will travel to Hillsdale College on Saturday afternoon for another G-MAC game. Tip-off against the Hillsdale College Chargers is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.