CANTON, OH - Down by 9 with 1:38 remaining, the KWC Panthers nearly came back to defeat the red hot Malone Pioneers, but would fall short and drop their first G-MAC game of the year by a score of 72-68. 

With the win Malone moves to 7-1 (3-0 G-MAC) while the Panthers fall to 6-4 (3-1 G-MAC). 

With the teams going back and forth to open the game, Shaylee McDonald hit a jumper with 4:32 left in the opening quarter to give KWC an 11-9 advantage. Despite buckets from Rachel Richardson and Cali Nolot, the Pioneers outscored Wesleyan 13-4 over the next few minutes and went into the second quarter up 22-15. 

Down 30-19 four minutes into the second quarter, KWC came out of a timeout on fire. Four different Panthers scored during a 9-0 run that saw the Malone lead cut to just two. Malone answered back with a 15-5 run of their own and closed the first half leading 45-33. 

Down by double digits most of the third quarter, Emma Johnson hit a three halfway through the frame to make it an eight point game. MU kept the foot on the gas, however, and KWC trailed 58-49 with just 10 minutes to play. 

Following a McDonald bucket to open the quarter, Cali Nolot scored four straight points to make it a seven point game early in the final frame. Malone kept the Panthers at bay for most of the quarter, holding at least a six point lead until the final 20 seconds. Johnson hit two threes in the fourth but it wasn't enough as Malone won this one by four. 

Cali Nolot led the Panthers with 17 points, followed by Tahlia Walton (12) and Shiya Hoosier (11). Hoosier tallied a season high eight boards and led with six assists as well. Nolot and Hoosier each had three steals. 

As a team KWC shot 28-59 from the field and an impressive 8-16 (50%) from three. Malone shot 28-62 overall and 10-24 (41.7%) from three. 

KWC will play in their last game of the calender year a week from today when they host Trevecca Nazarene at the Owensboro Sportscenter. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. 

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