CANTON, Ohio - The University of Charleston women's basketball team held on for a 50-47 win in an out-of-conference matchup with Malone University on Saturday afternoon at Osborne Hall on the Pioneer campus.

With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 2-1 overall on the season (0-0 GLIAC) while the Golden Eagles improved to 4-1 (1-1 MEC).

In the first half, Malone jumped out to an early 12-4 lead, its largest of the game, before UC went on a 20-4 run over the next 11 minutes to grab a 24-16 lead with 5:06 left in the half.  The margin stayed roughly the same for the remainder of the stanza as the Golden Eagles held a 30-23 advantage at the intermission.

In the final period, Charleston matched its largest lead of the game, at 42-32, on a jumper with 14:29 left in the contest before the Pioneers went on an 8-2 run to trim their deficit to 44-40 with 8:06 remaining. Although the Golden Eagles would push the lead back out to 10 points, at 50-40, with 5:22 left, UC would not score again as Malone made one final run at defending their home court.

Trailing by three,  Malone took a timeout  with 11 seconds left to set a play, the Pioneers were unable to convert on a pair of shots in the final seconds, as UC held on for the 50-47 victory.

For Charleston, Nichole Perry and Kayla Dozier paced the team with 12 points each while Monet Saunders tallied a team-high seven rebounds.

UC returns to MEC play  when the squad travels to Fairmont State University on Thursday, December 4th at 5:30 p.m