Box Score NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. â€" The Pioneers pulled away from the Manchester Spartans late, netting a 76-54 victory. The Pioneers remain undefeated on the road and first place in conference standings.

Leading the way for the Pioneers was sophomore guard Katelyn Smith who scored a game-high 22 points, three rebounds and two steals.

The Pioneers played a stellar press-defense that forced the Spartans to take tough shots and led to the Pioneers opening up a small lead. Despite the early lead, costly turnovers and fouls gave the Pioneers a deficit from which they had to fight through for most of the first half. The lead changed multiple times in the first but ended with the Pioneers opening a two-point lead at the half, 35-33.

The second half was all in favor of the Pioneers.

Starting with a jump shot with 19:54 on the clock by junior guard Nicole Coffman, the Pioneers opened up a lead that continued to grow for the remainder of the game. This lead grew to 24 points with 34 seconds remaining in regulation.

"I thought in the first twelve minutes of the second half we played as well as we have all season," Head Coach Greg Todd noted. 

The victory was in large part due to the Pioneers' defensive pressure. In the second half, the Pioneers improved their shooting percentage from 40 to 48 percent while smoldering the Spartans' 50 percent shooting  to 19 percent. This defense and diversified scoring attack resulted in the Pioneers' win, improving their HCAC record to 11-1.

"We did a nice job defensively, rebounded strong, and executed smoothly on the offensive end," Coach Todd noted. 

Joining Smith in scoring was Coffman who added 19 points, six rebounds, and two assists. With these points Coffman moved into sole possession of eighth on the Transylvania women's basketball all-time scoring list with 1,283 career points. Coffman only needs 38 points to become seventh on the list and has six regular season games remaining.

Also performing well for the Pioneers was senior guard Madisen Webb and junior forward Alex McKenzie, who both recorded double-doubles.

Webb scored 11 points shooting 2-3 from beyond the arc and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. McKenzie scored 10 points with 11 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. She also grabbed a game-high seven offensive rebounds.

The Pioneers are back in action Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. when they face off with the College of Mount St. Joseph in HCAC action.