CANTON – The women's basketball team will have their final road game of the 2021-2022 regular season as they travel to Tiffin University on Thursday evening.

Matchup: Malone University Pioneers (12-9, 8-7 G-MAC) at Tiffin University (11-12, 8-9 G-MAC)
Where: Tiffin, Ohio | The Gillmor Student Center
When: Thursday, February 17 | 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: Tiffin University Ticket Office
Live Video Stream: Great Midwest Digital Network
Live Stats: Great Midwest Digital Network (XML)

Closing Out Road Portion of Schedule
Thursday's game against Tiffin will be the final road game for the Pioneers. In this short road stint to close out the season, Malone traveled to University of Findlay last Saturday. While the Pioneers had some good individual performances, the Oilers' offense was too strong finishing the game eleven points ahead of the Pioneers.

In Saturday's contest, Madison Hunter came off the bench to lead Malone scorers with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds. Emma Kallas was an offensive force in the second half, as she scored all 12 of her points in the second half when she shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the field.

On the defensive end of the court, Robin Campbell led the Pioneers with a team-high five defensive rebounds and a game-high four steals.

With four assists in the game against Findlay, Campbell passed Michelle Ling (385) on the Malone All-Time Assists list with her total of 386.

Campbell also leads the Pioneers in scoring, averaging 13.9, with Holly Groff (13.5) and Alexis Hutchison (12.7) behind her.

Hardwood Series
Thursday's matchup between the Malone Pioneers and the Tiffin Dragons will be the 48th all time meeting between the two teams. Tiffin holds a slight 25-22 series lead. 

Last time the Dragons and the Pioneers tipped off in December of 2020 results in an overtime win for Tiffin, 69-67.

Holly Groff led the time with a game-high 25 points and her three-pointer in overtime helped her eclipse 1,000 career points (coming to Thursday's game she stands at 1532 career points and 6th on the All-Time Scoring List).

Madison Hunter scored 15 points and tied Groff for the team-lead with 8 rebounds. Nikki Weber scored a career-high 13 points, including shooting 3-5 from beyond the three-point line.

Malone's defense forced the Dragons into 19 turnovers and turned those into a 25-5 advantage in points-off turnovers.

Knowing Your Opponent
Tiffin comes into the game after a ten-point loss at Kentucky Wesleyan on Monday, February 14th. KWC outscored the Dragons 26-15 in the first quarter and extended to a 50-25 lead at the halftime break. However, coming out of the locker room, Tiffin put together an18-5 run and brought the score within 11 heading into the final period of play.

The momentum carried Tiffin to within four points with under 4 minutes to play, but the Panthers would outscore them 10-4 in the final few minutes to secure the 71-61 win.

Senior Aarion Nichols and Freshman Dana Rose each scored 14 points to lead Tiffin. Nichols leads the team, averaging 15.9 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game. Jada Tate is right behind her averaging 10.1 points and 8 rebounds in each of her outings.

Looking Ahead
The Pioneers will return home for five games to finish out the season. This Saturday they welcome #2 Ashland University for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off from Osborne Hall.