Box Score

After splitting a pair of games in Hawaii just before Christmas, the Malone University women's basketball team got back into GLIAC conference play on the second day of the new year and earned a 70-60 victory at Saginaw Valley State University (MI) Thursday night.

With the win, the Pioneers improved their GLIAC mark to 2-3 and their overall record to 7-4.  The Cardinals, with their loss, fell to 5-3 overall and to 3-2 in GLIAC play.

A key factor in the Malone victory was the fact that the Pioneers were able to attempt 23 more shots than their hosts as the visitors went 28 for 73 for 38.4% while SVSU hit 21 of just 50 attempts for 42.0%.  In addition, 20 turnovers by the Cardinals, with Malone only committing nine, was also huge in the Pioneer win.

In the first half, a game that was tightly contested through the first eight minutes swelled into a 27-16 lead for Malone (with 9:36 left) after the Pioneers went on a 12-0 run.  The visitors still held a 34-22 lead with 3:43 left in the period before SVSU went on a 9-0 run to close out the half, with Malone leading 34-31 at the intermission.

In the final stanza, the Cardinals continued their comeback with an 11-2 run to start the half, posting a 42-36 lead over the Pioneers with 15 minutes left in the contest.  But from that point on, Malone slowly and steadily ratcheted up the intensity in just about every facet of the game to overtake the hosts and extend its lead to the final 10-point margin and the 70-60 victory.

Eighteen of Malone's 73 attempts on the night came from beyond the arc with only four connecting (22.2%) while SVSU netted five of nine (55.6%). The Pioneers held the better free throw percentage, at 76.9% (10-13), although the Cardinals made a few more charity tosses, at 13-for-20 (65.0%). In addition, Malone held a 45-39 win on the boards.

A very balanced scoring attack saw four Pioneers score between 12 and 15 points with guard Selana Reale pacing the squad with 15. Guard Deborah Simmers followed with 13 points, to go along with four rebounds and three assists.  Forward Bri Libertore had a solid shooting effort in 22 minutes of action as she nailed 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-2 at the line while also grabbing five rebounds. Guard Sydnee Penn rounded out the double-digit scoring for the team with 11 points as she also tallied six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Guard Logan Pastor led the team in rebounds with eight.

For SVSU, Kayla Womack tossed in a team-high 15 points followed by Kristen Greene who had 14 points. Samantha Zirzow paced the squad in rebounds with seven.

Malone will next compete at GLIAC foe Wayne State University (MI), currently 8-1 (5-0 GLIAC), on Saturday (Jan. 4th) in a 1:00 p.m. contest. Live stats and live video will be available for this game.