It was a fight to the finish, but two clutch free throws from Cali Nolot with 0.1 seconds left gave Wesleyan a 64-62 victory over Malone in the first round of the G-MAC Tournament. Nolot came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her team-high 14 points in the quarter to lead Wesleyan to victory.
Malone concludes their season at 15-12 (11-9 G-MAC), while the Panthers move to 19-9 (15-6 G-MAC).
The Pioneers looked like they were going to run away with the game early, going up 23-11 after they hit nine of their first 11 shots. Malone went 10-14 (71.43%) in the quarter and hit five threes, but the Panthers closed strong and only trailed by seven after one.
After Shiya Hoosier opened the second quarter with a layup, each team went on a nearly four-minute scoring drought before Malone finally made a layup to end the dry spell. Wesleyan cut the lead to one on an Emma Johnson layup with 4:19 left, but MU closed on a 9-3 run to take a 36-29 lead into the break.
After trading buckets for the opening few minutes of the second half, Mariah Edmonds hit a big three to cut the lead back to one, 39-38. Malone kept the Panthers at bay until Shaylee McDonald gave Wesleyan their first lead of the game on a big three from the right wing to make it 46-45 near the end of the quarter. Each team went scoreless over final minute and a half and KWC took that one-point lead into the final 10 minutes of the game.
Reigning KWC Athlete of the Week Jordyn Barga opened the fourth quarter with a layup before Nolot took over. Nolot went on a personal 7-2 run and gave Wesleyan a 55-48 lead with 7:32 remaining in the game. Malone wouldn’t go quietly, fighting their way back to tie the game at 55. KWC answered with a mini 5-0 run on a another layup from Nolot and a three from McDonald. The teams fought hard in the final two minutes and with 18 seconds remaining and the game tied at 62, Malone had the ball. Wesleyan forced a missed three and Nolot got fouled on the rebound with 0.1 remaining. Nolot then calmly hit two free throws to win the game and send KWC into the next round of the G-MAC Tournament.
Nolot led the Panthers with 14 points, followed by McDonald with 13. Nolot also led with five boards while Barga and Rachel Richardson added two assists. Despite the loss, Malone’s Holly Groff gave the Panther’s all they could handle, scoring 30 points on 11-20 shooting.
KWC shot 24-47 (51.1%) from the field and 4-19 (21.1%) from three. Malone shot 23-51 (45.1%) from the field and 11-31 (35.5%) from behind the arc.
Kentucky Wesleyan double up the Pioneers 36-18 on points in the paint, and outscored them 23-0 in bench points.
The Panthers advance to the G-MAC semi-finals and will take on second-seeded Walsh in Ashland, Ohio on Friday, March 3rd. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m..
