CANTON, Ohio – The Malone University women's basketball team came up short 58-47 in a battle of nationally ranked teams. #21 Malone got off to a slow start and could not dig themselves out of an early deficit versus #10 Ashland University on Thursday night.
The loss snaps Malone's 13-game win streak and sends the Pioneers to an 18-3 overall record and a 12-1 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. The Eagles take over the top spot in the conference standings at 21-3 and 13-1 inside the league.
The Pioneers trailed 9-0 before freshman
Abbey Price netted the team's first basket coming out of the under-five minute media timeout. Senior
Brooklyn Troyer and junior
Erin Kaufman added a basket apiece in a 14-7 first quarter in favor of the visiting Eagles.
A 9-0 run for Ashland over the final 3:31 in the second quarter opened up a 17-point halftime lead at 32-15. Malone was held to just 23.1% (6-for-26) from the field in the first half and were outrebounded 21-10.
The lead ballooned to as many as 21 halfway in the third period, 41-20. A change in defense for the Pioneers was effective in getting the gap down to 10 at the same time into the fourth quarter, 48-37. The zone threw Ashland off their game on offense and the Eagles turned the ball over 10 times in that span.
Baskets by Price and junior
Aila Miller late in the game were not enough to mount a comeback and ultimately, Malone came up short, 58-47. The Pioneers won the final quarter by a mark of 19-12.
The freshman Price led the Pioneers in scoring with a career-high 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Senior
Brinn Hunt was also in double figures with 10 points and was the only student-athlete with a positive plus/minus for the home squad. Malone shot 16-of-52 (30.8%) from the field in the loss, a season-low. The Pioneers won the turnover margin 20-9, however lost the rebounding total 38-19 with Ashland at 22-of-44 (50.0%).
The second of a three-game home stand will be on Saturday, February 8 against the University of Findlay Oilers. That game begins at 1:00 P.M.