January 19, 2008

Malone’s Comeback Bid Falls Short In 66-58 Loss To Roberts Wesleyan (NY)

 
The Malone College women’s basketball team suffered a 66-58 defeat at home to American Mideast Conference North Division foe Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College on Saturday evening.  The Pioneers trailed 34-23 at halftime but then fought back to tie the contest at 43-43 with eight and a half minutes remaining in the game.  Malone was unable to take the lead, though, and Roberts Wesleyan quickly responded with an 11-5 run over the next five minutes that pushed the visitors’ advantage to six points at 54-48.  The Pioneers refused to surrender, twice cutting the deficit to two points in the final three minutes of the contest before Roberts Wesleyan was able to cement the victory by knocking down six of its final seven free throws.  The hard-fought 66-58 loss dropped Malone’s overall record to 4-12 (2-2 AMC North) on the season while Roberts Wesleyan improved to 9-8 (2-2 AMC North) with the victory.
 
The Pioneers connected on 15 of their 19 (78.9%) free throw attempts in the game, but struggled somewhat from the field, hitting only 20 of their 57 (35.1%) overall shots.  The Raiders, meanwhile, sank 17 of their 23 (73.9%) free throws and converted on 24 of their 62 (38.7%) field goal attempts.  Malone held a commanding 46-33 advantage in total rebounds, but also committed 24 turnovers and made just 20% (3 of 15) of its attempts from beyond the three-point arc.
 
Senior guard Kellyn Murphy (St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.) paced the Pioneers with 18 points in addition to pulling down five boards and dishing out three assists.  Junior forward Tara Miller (Miami East H.S.) followed with 13 points and a career-high 21 rebounds, 14 of which came in the second half.  Freshman guard Ashley Speicher (Plymouth H.S.) came off the bench to post nine points while junior forward Nicole Feher (Lutheran West H.S.) contributed six points and six rebounds.
 
This week, Malone (4-12 overall, 2-2 AMC North) will travel to Point Park (PA) University (2-15 overall, 0-4 AMC North) on Tuesday evening for a 5:30 p.m. contest.  The Pioneers will then head to Houghton (NY) College (7-8 overall, 0-3 AMC North) on Saturday afternoon for a 2:00 p.m. game with the Highlanders.
 
This week’s opponents: Point Park- Malone holds a 12-3 advantage in the all-time series with Point Park and has won each of the last seven meetings between the two schools.  The squads last played on November 4, 2006 at Osborne Hall as Malone notched a convincing 82-47 season-opening win. Houghton- The Pioneers lead the all-time series 4-2 and have posted four straight victories over the Highlanders.  Malone tallied a 93-69 win in the most recent meeting between the two schools, a neutral contest played at Roberts Wesleyan (NY) College on November 11, 2006.
 
Pioneer Notes: Kellyn Murphy paces the squad in scoring at 15.4 points per game followed by Tara Miller at 9.2 and Allyson Wilson at 6.8…Miller leads the team in rebounding at 7.8 boards per contest followed by Nicole Feher at 6.4 and Murphy at 5.5…Murphy is also averaging a team-high 1.9 assists per outing…Miller’s 21-rebound performance in Saturday’s game with Roberts Wesleyan was just two boards shy of tying the Malone individual-game rebound record of 23 which was set by Pam Oswald against Kenyon College on November 19, 1994...With 18 points on Saturday, Murphy moved into the Top 20 on the Pioneers’ all-time scoring list and is now tied for 20th with 895 career points.
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