February 19, 2008

Notre Dame Downs Malone 80-49

 
The Malone College women’s basketball team suffered an 80-49 American Mideast Conference North Division defeat at Notre Dame (OH) College on Tuesday evening as the host Falcons outscored the Pioneers 27-6 over the final nine minutes of play to pull away for the victory.  Malone held a 16-14 lead midway through the first half before an 8-0 run put Notre Dame in front 22-16 at the 8:46 mark of the opening stanza.  The Falcons stretched their advantage to 36-27 at intermission and then put the game away with their late second half surge.
 
The win snapped Notre Dame’s ten-game losing streak to Malone and improved the Falcons’ record to 20-6 overall and 10-3 AMC North.  With the loss, the Pioneers dropped to 7-18 overall and 5-7 in the division.
 
Notre Dame shot over 52% (33 of 63) from the field on Tuesday evening, held a 42-31 advantage in total rebounds, and blocked ten shots.  Malone converted on only 21 of its 60 (35%) field goal attempts and committed 19 turnovers.
 
Junior forward Tara Miller (Miami East H.S.) led the way for the Pioneers with 12 points and nine boards.  Senior guard Kellyn Murphy (St. Vincent-St. Mary H.S.) also registered 12 points while sophomore guard Amanda Bryan (Carrollton H.S.) tossed in seven.
 
Jamie Henry led four Falcons in double figures with 20 points followed by Yvette Hunter, who notched 17 points and nine rebounds.
 
Malone will next host Ursuline College (11-15 overall, 4-8 AMC North) on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. in an important AMC North contest.  The Pioneers will then conclude their regular season schedule at home on Saturday evening with a 5:30 p.m. match-up against Houghton (NY) College (14-11 overall, 7-6 AMC North).
 
Playoff Picture: The AMC North and South Division regular season champions will each receive automatic bids to the NAIA Division II National Tournament.  The number two through five finishers in each division will compete in an eight-team postseason tournament with the winner receiving the conference’s third and final automatic bid.  Despite Tuesday’s loss, Malone is still holding on to fifth place in the North Division standings with a one-game lead over sixth-place Ursuline.  The Pioneers can clinch a postseason spot (as the North Division’s fourth seed in the AMC Tournament) with a win in Thursday’s game against the Arrows.
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