Late Rally Falls Short in One-Point Loss at Malone
Canton, Ohio – The University of Findlay women's basketball team traveled to Canton to take on Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) foe Malone University on Thursday, Jan. 6. Despite a fourth quarter push, the Oilers fell by one point, losing the game 65-64. With the defeat, Findlay falls to 5-8 on the year with a 3-4 mark in conference play while the Pioneers improve to 8-5 and 4-3 in the league.
Findlay shot the ball well in the first quarter, making 50% of their attempts, but six turnovers in the first ten minutes proved costly as the Oilers would trail 21-15 heading into the second quarter. Malone's lead grew to eight by halftime as Findlay fell behind 39-31 through 20 minutes of play.
Malone extended the lead even further, taking their largest lead of the game just over a minute into the fourth quarter as a three-pointer gave the Pioneers a 55-40 advantage with only 8:38 remaining in the game.
Still trailing by 11 with 4:07 left in the contest, Findlay, who never led in the game, went on a 13-3 run to pull within one point with 33 seconds remaining. The Oilers defense stood tall, forcing a miss by the Pioneers, giving the Orange and Black the ball back with just three seconds left in the game.
After a timeout, Findlay had the ball on their own baseline. The inbounder, senior Amber Schweiger, got the ball back immediately for a corner three attempt but it was blocked by Malone's Alexis Hutchison to end the game.
The Oilers shot it well, making 28-of-54 from the floor for 51.9% while the Pioneers hit 25-of-54 for 46.3%. Findlay hit three triples while Malone connected on eight from deep.
Findlay outrebounded Malone 32-24 but committed more turnovers, totaling 21 to just 17 for the home Pioneers. Malone turned those 21 turnovers into 21 points while Findlay picked up ten points off the 17 Malone miscues.
Senior Paige Bellman led the Oilers off the bench, scoring a season-high 18 points in the game on 7-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. She also grabbed six rebounds. Senior Sydney Kin, who battled foul trouble, led the team with seven rebounds and was second on the squad with 16 points.
Junior Rachel Cooke also scored in double figures, picking up ten points on 4-of-6 from the floor, two of which were three point makes. Senior Amber Schweiger tied a game-high with seven assists while senior Bridget Landin, who scored eight points, had five assists.
For Malone, Robin Campbell led the way with 14 points, seven assists, six boards, and two steals while Alexis Hutchison scored 13, had seven rebounds, and two assists.
Findlay returns home this Saturday, Jan. 8 to take on Walsh University in Croy Gymnasium at 1:00 pm.