PAINESVILLE, Ohio - The #21 Malone University women's basketball team moved their undefeated record to 10-0 on Saturday with a 72-51 triumph over Lake Erie College in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. The Pioneers (10-0, 4-0 G-MAC) outscored the Storm (1-7, 1-3 G-MAC) 40-25 in the second half to achieve the lopsided victory.
 
Malone surrendered the first five points of the afternoon, but Abbey Price and Erin Kaufman split an 8-0 scoring run evenly for the visitors to that their first lead. At the media timeout, the score was tied 11-11, however a three-point field goal from Kylee Bruce and a pair of free throws by Aila Miller put the score at 16-13 after one.
 
The Pioneers doubled their lead with another 16-13 second quarter. Anna Krupa had a successful shot from deep and a putback on the offensive glass to put the team up six on two different occasions in the first half. Lake Erie was 6-of-10 (60.0%) from the field in the second quarter, but it was Malone in front by a score of 32-26 at the break.
 
Head Coach Selana Ickes and the Pioneers made several halftime adjustments to take full control of the contest and cruise to victory. Malone won the third period 22-9 and shot 10-for-14 (71.4%) from the field. The Storm had no answer for the offensive onslaught and was empty from beyond the arc at 0-for-6. The lead ballooned to 21 following an 18-0 run that was capped off by an Irene Maroto layup with just over two minutes to play in the quarter.
 
The 54-35 lead that the Pioneers built was too much for Lake Erie to overcome with just ten minutes on the clock. Nine of the final twelve points scored in the game belonged to Malone, with seven of those coming from Kaufman to make it 72-51.
 
51 points by an opponent are a season-low for the Pioneer defense. They also forced 25 turnovers by the Storm, a mark tied for the most against Malone this year. Kaufman led all scorers with 15 points while Price had double-digits with 12 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Kaufman and Price tied for the lead with four steals each. Brinn Hunt had 11 points off the bench, including three shots from long range.
 
The final game for the Pioneers before Christmas break will be at California University of Pennsylvania on Thursday, December 18. Tip-off is set for 5:30 P.M.