The Malone University women's basketball team lost to visiting Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opponent Tiffin University Thursday night by the score of 77-71.

With the loss, Malone dropped to 8-14 overall and to 6-12 in the GLIAC while Tiffin, with the win, improved to 7-16 overall and to 6-11 in GLIAC play.

The Pioneers' Rachel Goddard wasted no time by drilling a three-pointer 11 seconds into the first half to get Malone on the board first. But Tiffin would go on to hold small leads through the first 12 minutes before opening up a 33-26 lead with 3:12 left. Malone trimmed their deficit to 33-31 with 1:50 left, though, on a pair of Leslie Raifsnider free throws but the visitors registered six points in a one-minute span to extend their lead to 42-33. However, MU's Rachel Goddard made a three-pointer with two seconds left to close out the half as Tiffin took a 42-36 lead into intermission.

The second half started off slowly for both teams as only six combined points were scored in the first four minutes. Forward Sarah Bardall made a layup at the 13:37 mark to get the Pioneers to within three points to make the score 45-42. During the next five minutes, Tiffin made back-to-back three-pointers to start an 11-4 run extending their lead to 59-46 at the 9:22 mark. In the last two minutes, Malone would go on a 6-0 run to get within six points at 73-67 with 1:30 remaining. Tara Schaffter made the Pioneers' last four points to get the team to within four points with eight seconds left. It wasn't enough, though, as Tiffin closed the game out by sinking a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to seal the 77-71 victory.  

Goddard had a season-high 22 points (3-for-6 at the three point line) while also tallying four rebounds and three assists. Teammate Schaffter tied her career-high 16 points while grabbing seven rebounds and shooting 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Raifsnider and Kristen Massey chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively, with both going a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line.  

For Tiffin, Jordan Fraley led the way with 20 points while Bre Nauman paced the Dragons in rebounds with 11. 

Malone will travel to conference opponent Ohio Dominican University on Saturday (February 14th). The game is scheduled to tip off at 1:00 p.m. Live video, stats and audio will be available for Saturday's game.