BETHANY, W.Va. – Coming off its first victory of the semester against Thiel on Wednesday, the Geneva College women's basketball team made the trip south to Bethany College looking to put together its first winning streak of the season.  The Golden Tornadoes hung with the Bison for three quarters, but Bethany pulled away in the final quarter to secure a 75-66 victory.  Bethany improved to 4-14 overall, 3-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 2-14, 1-8 in the PAC.

Geneva took its first lead of the game early in the first quarter when junior Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian), who was coming off her school-record 40-point performance against Thiel, laid one in to give the Golden Tornadoes a 6-4 lead two minutes into the game.  The game stayed tight throughout the quarter, with Geneva taking its biggest lead, 20-16, with two minutes remaining on a jumper by Tipton.  The Golden Tornadoes took a 23-21 lead at the first break.

Bethany scored the first six points of the second quarter to take a 27-23 lead, but another basket by Tipton and a three-point play by sophomore Shannon Wolfe (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch) regained the lead for Geneva, 28-27.  Neither team led by more than three points of the rest of the half, with Bethany taking a slim 32-31 lead into the break.

The Bison took its biggest lead of the game to that point, 40-31, by scoring the first eight points of the second half.  Senior Meghan Hirneisen (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) pulled Geneva back into things midway through the third quarter with a layup followed by a three-pointer.  Two free throws by Tipton on Geneva's following possession cut the deficit to 44-42, and the two teams headed to the final quarter with Bethany holding a 51-47 lead.

Unfortunately, once again, the opening of a new quarter was a problem for Geneva.  Bethany took control of the game by opening the final quarter with 11 straight points, opening up a 62-47 lead.  The Golden Tornadoes pulled to within eight points, 66-58, on a three-pointer by freshman Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City), and a minute later a three-pointer by junior Emily Melnek (Poland, Ohio/Poland) with 2:48 remaining brought Geneva to within 69-63.  However, back-to-back empty possessions by the Golden Tornadoes followed, and Geneva could not get any closer before eventually falling 75-66.

"We battled for three quarters, and I feel like our team is making progress," said Head Coach Michael Grinder.  "Then in the fourth quarter, they gave us some chances late to get back into it, but we did not make enough plays down the stretch to pull out the win."

Tipton led the team offensively with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while also grabbing nine rebounds.  Roth and Hirneisen each added 12 points.  Geneva kept better care of the ball, turning it over just 15 times, but the Golden Tornadoes went just 8-of-31 (26%) from three-point range, unable to knock down enough long-range jumpers to pull out the victory.  Bethany shot 47% for the game and had four players in double figures, led by Courtney Walker's 16 points.

Geneva returns home on Wednesday to take on W&J at 5:30 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 115 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 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.