January 29, 2008
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Pioneers Drop 75-74 Nail-Biter To Carlow (PA)The Malone College women’s basketball team suffered a narrow 75-74 home loss to Carlow (PA) University on Tuesday evening after missing three go-ahead shot attempts in the final ten seconds of play. Trailing by one point with 21 ticks remaining on the clock, the Pioneers called a timeout to set up a potential game-winning shot on their final possession. Malone then had three looks at the basket from inside the three-point arc during the final moments, but none of the attempts would fall before the Celtics snagged a defensive rebound as time expired to secure the hard-fought 75-74 American Mideast Conference North Division victory.
Carlow led the tightly-contested match-up 40-38 at the half and then pushed its advantage to as many as seven points early in the second frame before an 8-2 Malone run put the hosts on top 68-63 with just under five minutes remaining. The Celtics surged back moments later, however, with a 10-2 run that put them in front 75-72 with 1:19 showing on the clock. Pioneer sophomore guard Bree Zehnder (Garaway H.S.) then hit a jumper seconds later to cut the deficit to one point at 75-74. Each squad came up empty on its next few trips down the floor, setting up Malone’s frantic final possession.
The win snapped Carlow’s three-game losing streak and improved the Celtics’ record to 4-15 overall and 2-6 in the AMC North Division. Following the tough defeat, the Pioneers fell to 5-14 overall and 3-4 in the division.
Malone, which had tallied a 67-61 road victory at Carlow earlier this season (January 15th), shot over 40% (29 of 71) from the field on Tuesday night, sinking seven of its 17 (41.2%) three-pointers. The Pioneers also held a slim 43-42 advantage in total rebounds, but struggled somewhat at the foul line, connecting on nine of 15 (60%) free throws. Carlow, meanwhile, made 41.3% (26 of 63) of its overall shot attempts, eight of 24 (33.3%) three-point tries, and was clutch at the charity stripe, draining 15 of 17 (88.2%) free throw attempts.
Senior guard Kellyn Murphy (St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.) led the way for Malone with 20 points (7-12 FG, 2-3 3PT FG, 4-4 FT), three steals, two rebounds, and two assists. Junior forward Tara Miller (Miami East H.S.) followed with 15 points and 13 boards for her second double-double of the season while freshman guard Allyson Wilson (Firestone H.S.) notched seven points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals.
Jacqueline Muir scored a game-high 26 points for Carlow. Christina Costa also came up big for the Celtics as she hit five three-pointers and ended the night with 19 points and nine boards.
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