BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team finished its season on a high note on Saturday as it celebrated the final game of not only seniors Callie Ford (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield Local) and Noelle Henry (Hopewell, Pa./Hopewell), but also for Head Coach Lori Wynn.  In a season filled with injuries, departures, and a long losing streak, the Golden Tornadoes forgot about all of that for one night and put together their best game of the season, easily defeating Thiel College, 80-58.  Geneva finished its season at 4-20, 2-14 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Thiel fell to 6-19, 4-12 in the PAC.

Not only did the Golden Tornadoes have the emotion from saying goodbye to their seniors, but also the emotion of knowing this was Coach Wynn's last game, as she announced last month that she would be stepping down at the end of this season to focus on her teaching responsibilities at Geneva.  The Golden Tornadoes turned that emotion into positive play, scoring 14 straight points to begin the game on their way to a 25-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Geneva continued to play well, stretching its lead to 31-10 lead after Ford hit two free throws, and the Golden Tornadoes maintained that lead for most of the quarter.  However, Thiel scored eight straight points in the last minute of the half to cut Geneva's lead down to 39-26 heading into the break.  Ford had 11 points at the half, while sophomore Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) was on her way to a career night with eight points and 10 rebounds.

If Thiel had any hopes of a comeback at halftime, Geneva put those thoughts to rest in the third quarter.  Geneva extended its lead to 56-30 on another jumper from Ford, the biggest lead of the night for the Golden Tornadoes.   From there Geneva cruised, finishing things off for the 80-58 win.

"I'm so proud of this team," said Coach Wynn.  "We have had such resilience this year, and we have continued to fight and persevere.  To finish the season with two wins in our last three games, with the kinds of things we went through this season, it was a really enjoyable way to end things."

Ford finished her career with a 25-point effort, placing her third all-time in school history with 1,624 points.  Tipton had a monster night as well, finishing with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor, as well as grabbing 20 rebounds, both career highs.  Freshman Shannon Wolfe (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) added 11 points, while Henry finished her career off with a 10-point night.  Geneva shot 53% from the floor.  Thiel finished at just 29%, including a huge number of attempts from 3-point range, making 11-of-44.

Geneva will have many changes to look forward to next year, with a new head coach along with the departure of Ford and Henry.  However, on this night, the Golden Tornadoes made sure they sent their coach and their seniors off on a high note.


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.