BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team has not experienced a win since before Christmas, and the losing streak increased by one against Westminster on Wednesday night, despite holding a lead early in the fourth quarter. A strong final quarter by the Titans allowed them to pull away late for the 69-57 victory. Westminster improved to 8-15, 6-8 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 2-19, 0-13 in the PAC.
The game stayed close for most of the game. Geneva held three early leads, and despite Westminster making three straight 3-pointers midway through the quarter, Geneva hung close and trailed by just one, 11-10, at the end of the quarter.
Westminster opened the second quarter with another 3-pointer, but four straight points from senior
Callie Ford (New Middletown, Ohio/Springfield Local) tied things up at 20-20 with five minutes remaining in the half. Neither team could do much offensively the remainder of the half, but a layup by sophomore
Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) with less than a minute remaining gave Geneva a 23-22 lead going into the break.
Geneva took its biggest lead of the game early in the third quarter on two free throws from Ford, 29-24. Westminster responded with eight straight points to go up 32-29, but a 3-pointer from Ford tied the score at 32-32. Another layup from Tipton with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter put Geneva up 42-38, though Westminster trimmed the lead to 42-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Another 3-pointer from Westminster on its opening possession gave Westminster a 43-42 lead, and Geneva would never regain momentum. Another 3-pointer from Ford with 3:25 remaining got Geneva back within one, 53-52, but Westminster answered with nine straight points to put the game away. The Titans finished off the win, 69-57.
"I felt like we just ran out of gas tonight," said Head Coach
Lori Wynn. "Our team really battled and fought all night, but we don't have a lot of depth right now, and it showed up late. Despite our struggles this season, this team hasn't given up, and I'm proud of that."
Ford led the offense with 27 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds. Tipton had her third double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds. A key difference in the game was Westminster's shooting behind the arc, as the Titans finished 10-of-26 from 3-point range compared to 4-of-13 shooting for Geneva. Jackie Mathews, who finished 4-of-8 from deep, led six Titans in double figures with 14 points.
Geneva heads to Chatham on Saturday for a 12:00 p.m. tipoff before finishing its season with two home games next week.
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.
