December 18, 2007

Pioneers Lose To Nationally-Ranked Indiana Wesleyan For Third Time This Season

 
The Malone College women’s basketball team suffered a 66-39 loss on the road Tuesday night to NAIA Division II #9 Indiana Wesleyan University.  The Pioneers and Wildcats had faced off in two previous games this season prior to Tuesday's match-up as Indiana Wesleyan posted an 80-55 win on November 9th at the Cedarville University Classic and a 44-30 victory on November 17th at Malone’s Tip-Off Classic.  Much like in these earlier meetings,  Malone struggled to get its offense on track in the early going as IWU opened up a commanding 36-17 lead at halftime and then maintained a sizable advantage throughout the second stanza en route to the 66-39 final.  Indiana Wesleyan (13-0, 2-0 MCC), which won the 2006-2007 NAIA Division II National Championship with a perfect 38-0 record, stretched its winning streak to a remarkable 51 games with the victory.
 
The Wildcats hit 50% (26-52) of their shots from the field in Tuesday's contest and held a substantial 34-20 advantage in total rebounds.  The Pioneers, meanwhile, connected on just 15 of their 39 (38.5%) attempts and committed 24 turnovers.
 
Senior guard Kellyn Murphy (St. Vincent/St. Mary H.S.) paced Malone with 11 points.  Freshman guard Allyson Wilson (Firestone H.S.) followed with eight points and a team-high six rebounds while junior forward Tara Miller (Miami East H.S.) tossed in six points and pulled down four boards.
 
Malone (2-9, 0-0 AMC North) will now be idle until Saturday, December 29th when it travels to Hiland High School in Berlin, Ohio for a neutral contest against NCAA Division II Wheeling Jesuit (WV) University (1-5, 1-1 WVIAC).
 
Next week’s opponent: Wheeling Jesuit- The Cardinals hold a 6-3 lead in the all-time series between the two schools although Malone defeated Wheeling Jesuit last season (at Hiland H.S.) by a score of 51-41.  The Cardinals had won six straight contests over the Pioneers prior to last year’s meeting.
 
Malone Notes: Kellyn Murphy leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game followed by Tara Miller at 9.0 and Allyson Wilson at 6.2…Miller and Nicole Feher are averaging a team-high 5.8 rebounds per contest…Katie Murphy paces the squad with 1.8 assists per outing…In seven of their first 11 games this season, the Pioneers have faced an opponent that is currently ranked in the NAIA Division II Top 25 or is listed among those receiving votes in the national poll (#9 Indiana Wesleyan three times, #16 Shawnee State University, #20 University of Rio Grande, Berea (KY) College, and Huntington (IN) University).
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