MONACA, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team had a chance to pick up its second straight win when it traveled to Penn State Beaver on Tuesday night, but the Golden Tornadoes faltered down the stretch in the 59-56 loss.  Penn State Beaver improved to 4-1 on the season, while Geneva fell to 1-2.

Despite shooting just 5-of-16 in the first quarter, the Golden Tornadoes held the Lions to just 3-of-18 shooting in the quarter, enabling Geneva to take a 12-10 lead at the end of the period.  After senior Callie Ford (New Middleton, Ohio/Springfield Local) made a layup midway through the second quarter, Geneva extended its lead out to its biggest of the game, 20-12.  The teams traded buckets the rest of the half from there, and the Golden Tornadoes took a 27-21 lead into the break.

The third quarter was where things got away from Geneva.  Penn State Beaver used a ten point run to turn a 31-25 deficit into a 35-31 lead, and the Lions held that lead for the rest of the quarter, taking a 44-40 lead into the final period.

Trailing 49-43 early in the fourth quarter, Geneva used a 7-0 run to regain the lead, 50-49, as Ford scored all seven Geneva points.  Unfortunately, the Golden Tornadoes went cold over the final six minutes.  The Lions quickly regained the lead, but a jumper from Meghan Hirneisen (Greencastle, Pa./Green Castle-Antrim) closed the gap to 55-54 with two and a half minutes remaining.  Neither team could score over the next two minutes, though, as Geneva missed two shots from the floor and two free throws.  Eventually the Golden Tornadoes were force to foul with under 30 seconds remaining, and the Lions made their free throws to hold off Geneva, 59-56.

"We didn't play particularly well tonight," said Head Coach Lori Wynn.  "However, we put ourselves in position to win despite some struggles.  We just couldn't make the plays down the stretch to pull out the victory."

Ford led the offense again with 29 points.  No other Golden Tornado scored more than six points as Geneva shot just 18-of-60 (30%) from the floor and committed 26 turnovers.  Penn State Beaver was led by Diamond Thomas who finished with 17 points.

Geneva will travel to Bethany next Wednesday, November 28, to open Presidents' Athletic Conference play at 5:30 p.m.  The Golden Tornadoes will then finally get a chance to play at home when they host Washington & Jefferson on Saturday, December 1, at 1:00 p.m.


Geneva College is a Christ-centered academic community that provides a comprehensive education to equip students for faithful and fruitful service to God and neighbor. Offering over 80 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs, and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. U.S. News & World Report ranks Geneva as a Top Three Best Value Regional University with one of the Top 100 engineering programs in the nation. Adhering to the truth of Scripture, a Geneva education is grounded in God's Word as well as in a core curriculum designed to prepare students vocationally to think, write and communicate well in today's world.