January 3, 2008

Pioneers Hold On For 88-80 Victory At Ursuline

 
The Malone College women’s basketball team opened American Mideast Conference North Division play with an 88-80 win at Ursuline College on Thursday night.  The Pioneers held a commanding 47-22 advantage at halftime and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the majority of the second stanza before the Arrows went on a late 17-4 run to trim Malone’s advantage to 81-80 with under a minute remaining.  Ursuline was unable to take the lead, though, as Pioneer senior guard Nicki Sisson (Wayne Trace H.S.) hit a key three-pointer to push the advantage back to four at 84-80.  Following a missed Arrow three-point attempt, Sisson and senior guard Kellyn Murphy (St. Vincent-St Mary H.S.) each converted a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the 88-80 conference win.  The victory improves Malone’s overall record to 3-10 on the season (1-0 AMC North) while Ursuline falls to 5-8 (0-2 AMC North).
 
The Pioneers’ 88-point outburst marked the squad’s highest offensive output of the season.  Malone also posted its highest overall field-goal percentage of the year (48.4%) after connecting on 31 of 64 attempts.  Ursuline hit 31 of 68 (45.6%) shots from the field, including over 57% (23-40) of its attempts during its strong second-half comeback.  The Arrows also held a 34-30 advantage in the total rebounds, but were hindered by 21 turnovers.
 
Murphy led all scorers with a career-high 29 points (10-15 FG, 1-1 3PT FG, 8-9 FT) in addition to posting five rebounds, four steals and three assists.  Sisson also set a new career-high with 24 points (8-18, 3-6 3PT FG, 5-6 FT).  Junior forward Tara Miller (Miami East H.S.) added 10 points while junior forward Nicole Feher (Lutheran West H.S.) contributed seven points and 11 boards.
 
This week, Malone (3-10 overall, 1-0 AMC North) will participate in just one contest, a 5:30 p.m. home match-up with Daemen (NY) College (6-5 overall, 1-0 AMC North) on Saturday (1/12).
 
This week’s opponents: Daemen- Malone holds a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series between the two schools and defeated Daemen by a final score of 67-46 in their most recent meeting (November 17, 2006).
 
Pioneer Notes: Kellyn Murphy leads the team in scoring at 15.2 points per game followed by Tara Miller at 8.1 and Allyson Wilson at 6.6…Nicole Feher paces the team in rebounding with 6.3 boards per outing followed by Murphy at 5.5 and Miller at 5.3…Murphy is also averaging a team-high 1.8 assists per contest.
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