East Stark News

The Malone University women's basketball team bounced back from their loss on Thursday with a win on Saturday afternoon at Lake Erie College. 

With the win, the Pioneers improve to 12-5 on the season and 6-3 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) action. 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Final Score: Malone University 73 – Lake Erie College 51
• Records: Malone (12-5, 6-3 G-MAC) | Lake Erie (6-9, 2-7 G-MAC)
• Location: Painesville, Ohio | Osborne Center

THE GAME

The Storm fouled the Pioneers on the opening possession, and Erin Kaufman sank a free-throw.

Halfway through the very low scoring first quarter, Lake Erie was up 8-1. But, with the effort of Alexis Hutchison on two fastbreaks Malone closed the gap. Emma Kallas had the final basket of the first quarter, but the Storm still led 10-7.

The low scoring affair continued into the second quarter as it took almost two minutes before either team found the basket.

It was almost another minute before the Pioneers scored with another free throw from Kaufman. 

Back-to-back three pointers from Brinn Hunt and Emma Kallas gave Malone the lead.

The final four and a half minutes saw the teams go back and forth. Hutchison closed out the first half with a three-pointer, and gave Malone a three-point lead as the teams headed to the locker room.

Coming out of the break, the Pioneer scoring started again with Kaufman, but this time with a layup.

While Lake Erie came back to take a one-point lead, it was not for long as Hutchison got another shot from the paint at the 6:45 mark.

The Storm tied the game with an 'and one' opportunity, but a layup from Hutchison put the Pioneers back on top.

Malone would not relinquish their lead for the rest of the game, they would just expand on it.

Kyli Horn hit back-to-back buckets at the end of the third quarter to send the teams to the final quarter with Malone leading by six points.

Emma Kallas and Erin Kaufman helped score the first eight Pioneer points of the fourth quarter, and expanded Malone's lead to double-digits.

Hutchison's layup later in the quarter gave Malone a twenty-point lead. 

To close out the game, and the 22 point victory, Nataley Armstrong passed to Brinn Hunt who sank a shot from behind the arc.

THE DETAILS

• Alexis Hutchison led all-scorers with 26 points as she went 11-of-22 from the field. She also pulled down 8 rebounds and dished out seven assists.
• Emma Kallas also shot 50% from the field going 6-12, and sank her two three-point attempts. Kallas also pulled down seven rebounds.
• Erin Kaufman was on double-double watch with her ten points and nine rebounds.
• Brinn Hunt had a career seven rebounds, all on the defensive end.
• As a team, the Pioneers had 13 points off the nine Lake Erie turnovers. 

WHAT'S NEXT

The Pioneers will continue their current road trip with a trip to Tiffin University on Thursday. Tip-off against the Dragons is at 5:30 pm.

Original source can be found here.