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Highlanders Overcome Slow Start to Beat Malone in OT

(Canton, Ohio)—The Houghton College women’s basketball team shook off an abysmal shooting performance in the first half to overtake the Malone College Pioneers and win 62-60 in overtime Saturday night.

             Malone came into the game knowing that if it won it would get the fifth and final position in the American Mideast Conference North Division playoffs and that if it lost its season was over. “They were playing with a lot of passion and just battled the whole way,” said Skip Lord, Houghton’s head coach.

            Both teams struggled in the first half, with Houghton shooting just 8-33 (24 percent)—and 2-13 (15 percent) from three-point range—and trailing by as many as 10 points on their way to scoring just 18 points in the half. Malone wasn’t doing much better, scoring 25 on 10-34 (29

percent) shooting.

           In the second half, Houghton scored the first four points to cut the lead to three and tied up the game 29-29 within the first three minutes. Neither team would lead by more than four points for the rest of the half; the game would be tied seven separate times.

            The last of those came with 17 seconds left when Malone scored to make it 53 apiece. Houghton had a chance to win it in regulation, but missed.

            In overtime, the Pioneers jumped out to an early three-point lead, but Ashley Dupler had six of Houghton’s nine points in the extra period—on her way to a game-high 20—to push Houghton back into a four-point lead.

            Malone scored to close it to 62-60, then fouled, and had a chance to tie it again when Houghton missed both free throws. Houghton’s defense held, though, and the game ended.

            “In the second half and the overtime, we were able to do some things offensively,” said Skip Lord, Houghton’s head coach, “Dupler was awesome.”

            Lisa Skrypnik had 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds for the Highlanders. For the Pioneers, Nicki Sisson had 16 points, Kellyn Murphy had 14 and Tara Miller had 12. Miller and Murphy had 11 rebounds each.

            “They just crushed us on the boards,” said Lord, noting that the Pioneers out-rebounded his Highlanders 63-39, “but we played well defensively.”

            The loss denied Malone the AMC playoff berth (Ursuline gets it instead) and ended their season. Houghton finished fourth in the AMC North, with an 8-6 record (15-11 overall), and will go on the road to Roberts Wesleyan for a conference playoff game on Wednesday night.

Photo by Mike Wise. For more photos of the game, click here.