The Malone University women's basketball team suffered an 82-54 defeat on Saturday in its Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference road contest at Ashland University.

The Eagles (10-6 overall, 6-4 GLIAC) led 36-29 at halftime and then outscored the Pioneers (6-8 overall, 4-6 GLIAC) by a 24-5 margin over the first eight minutes of the second half.  A three-pointer by guard Audrey Myers and lay-up by guard Kristen Massey kept the deficit at seven in the early stages of the final period.  However, a five-minute Malone scoring drought then ensued, allowing Ashland to pull away.

The first half featured ties of 14-14 and 22-22 before an 8-0 scoring run allowed the Eagles to take the lead into the locker room at the break.

Three-point shooting fueled Ashland's spurt at the start of the second period as the hosts sank four of their five attempts from beyond the three-point arc over the final 20 minutes of action.  On the afternoon, the Eagles knocked down over 54% (31 of 57) of their shot attempts compared to 38.5% (20 of 52) for Malone.

Although the two squads each grabbed 31 rebounds, Ashland held a sizable edge in points in the paint, outscoring Malone 48-24 inside.

Myers and guard Rachel Goddard each tossed in 11 points to lead the way for the Pioneers.  Massey and forward Alahna Singleton both followed with eight points while forward Lindsy Snyder contributed seven points, eight rebounds and three assists.  Snyder moved up to 24th on Malone's all-time scoring list during Saturday's game and now has 901 career points. The senior is also currently seventh in rebounds with 704, eight away from climbing to sixth on the Pioneers' all-time list.

Laina Snyder, Lindsy's sister, tallied 18 points and five rebounds for AU.  Guard Taylor Woods added 17 points for the Eagles after connecting on five of seven treys.

Malone will look to bounce back on Thursday when the squad travels to Tiffin University for a 6:00 p.m. contest.