The Malone University women's basketball team fell on the road to NCAA Division II #14 Wayne State University (MI) on Thursday night 81-74.

Malone's Alahna Singleton would be the first player to score within the first minute of the game to give the Pioneers an early 2-0 lead. Three minutes later, Wayne State would go on a 6-0 run to take a 6-2 advantage. At the 12:54 mark, Wayne State would lead by as much as 17-10. From there, the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run in two and a half minutes, which included a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Rachel Goddard and Kristen Massey, putting Malone on top 18-17 with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

With 5:20 on the clock, Wayne State's Gabby Machado drilled a pair of free throws to tie the game 29-29. Then, Machado's teammate, Kristen Long, would steal the ball and make a layup to put the Warriors in front 31-29 with five minutes left in the half. Malone's Bri Libertore made a jumper with three minutes remaining to tie the game 31-31. Malone closed out the half on a 6-2 spurt to take a 37-33 advantage at the intermission.    

Malone would hold a seven-point lead at the 15:05 mark, making the score 51-44 to start the final stanza. After that, Wayne State would go on a 13-4 run including back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to take their first lead of the second half at 57-55 with 11 minutes left to play.

With 3:08 on the clock, WSU's Brittany Streetman would make a jumper to start a 7-0 run, giving the Warriors a 77-69 advantage with two minutes left in the game. Singleton would drill a pair of free throws to get Malone to within five at 79-74 with 45 seconds left. However, WSU's Ondrea Hughes would sink two free throws of her own with six seconds left to seal the 81-74 victory.

Goddard paced Malone with a season-high 31 points.  The sophomore guard went 3-for-5 from beyond the three-point arc, 4-for-5 at the free-throw line and shot 12-for-16 from the field overall. Singleton registered her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.  Massey tossed in nine points while Libertore ended the night with eight points.

The leading scorer for Wayne State was center Shareta Brown, who led the team with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while shooting 8-for-9 at the free throw line.

The Pioneers will return to Osborne Hall to play against the University of Findlay on Saturday, February 21 at 1:00 p.m. in the final home game of the regular season. Malone's seniors will be honored prior to the start of the men's game vs. Findlay.  In addition, live stats will be provided during Saturday's game.