Though it was just a preseason scrimmage leading up to the St. Bonaventure women's basketball season, MP Malo was putting on skills that would lead to an outstanding future in the game.

But at the time it wasn't exactly well received from her coaching staff.

"The whole game I was arguing with the refs," Malo remembers now.  

After then assistant coach, and now Bonnies head coach, Jesse Fleming and former head coach Jim Crowley brought Malo into the basketball office to show her a tape of her frequent questioning of official's calls, she began to realize she saw the game a little differently than the average player.

"I was seeing the game differently," she said. "I didn't know it, but I was an official at heart."

 

It was the beginning of an officiating career that has taken Malo to some of the greatest heights of the profession. After graduating from Bonaventure in 2008, she returned to her native Canada and began taking classes to become certified as a referee. From that point, she has steadily worked up the ranks, becoming a FIBA certified referee working games at the highest levels of international competition.  

This past summer, she was selected to work at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She was on the officiating crew for six games during the Olympics, including the women's gold medal game and a men's game.

As a FIBA certified official for the past decade, she's had the opportunity to officiate at numerous FIBA competitions, including FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2018, FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2019, FIBA Women's AmeriCup 2019, and at the FIBA Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament 2020 in Bourges, France.  

She also serves as an inspiration for young female officials as just 18 percent of FIBA referees worldwide are women. In 2020, she became the first woman to officiate in a U SPORTS Men's National Championship gold medal game.

Malo's basketball dreams have their roots in St. Bonaventure where she was a four-year contributor for the Bonnies before graduating in 2008. She earned a spot on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll each year and was a part of teams that set the foundation for future Bonnies WNIT and NCAA Tournament success.

For the full Alumni Spotlight feature with Malo from a recent episode of Bonnies Insider, watch the video below.