Box Score

The Malone University women's basketball team (17-8, 12-7 GLIAC) secured its first-ever trip to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs with a 71-65 road win over Ohio Dominican University (10-13, 7-12 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon.

It looked like the Pioneers might have to wait until next Thursday to try and punch their ticket to the GLIAC postseason, as they fell into a 32-27 halftime deficit. Ohio Dominican would grow the lead to 10 points, 39-29, early in the second half before Malone started to find its offensive rhythm. The Pioneers rattled off a 19 to 5 run, sparked by nine points from senior Sydnee Penn, to take their first lead of the game at 46-44 with 11:40 to play.

With the score 57-55 with four minutes on the clock, the Pioneers used a pivotal 6-1 spurt to take a seven-point lead. Penn would then hit five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Penn's 19 points led all Malone players while juniors Selana Reale and Lindsy Snyder joined her in double figures with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Pioneers shot 24-for-60 (40%) for the game and 7-for-16 (44%) from three-point range. Ohio Dominican went 26-for-64 (41%) for the contest and 5-for-15 (33%) from distance. Perhaps the difference in the game was Malone's ability to get to the charity stripe. Malone attempted 24 free-throw attempts to Ohio Dominican's 11, making five more than the home team.

Malone, currently fifth in the overall GLIAC standings and still in the mix for hosting a playoff game come tournament time, will square off in a critical contest versus Hillsdale (MI) College on Thurday, Feb.20, at Osborne Hall.  Tip-off is slated for 6:00 p.m. The Chargers topped Malone 85-69 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams up in Michigan on January 30. Live video and stats will be provided during Thursday's game.  Click here for links to each.