NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team made the trip north to take on rival Westminster on Wednesday evening, and the Golden Tornadoes couldn't keep pace with the Titans in dropping an 86-50 decision.  Westminster improved to 18-5 overall, 11-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 2-18, 1-12 in the PAC.

Senior Jeana Luciana (Oakmont, Pa./Saint Joseph) hit a jumper on Geneva's opening possession, and junior Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) followed with a bucket to give the Golden Tornadoes a 4-0 lead just a minute into the game.  However, Westminster answered back with ten straight points to take a 10-4 lead, a lead the Titans would never relinquish.  Luciana and Tipton were Geneva's primary offense in the opening quarter, with the two scoring Geneva's first 13 points until junior April Mann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Evangelical Christian Academy) hit two free throws with two minutes remaining.  Those free throws pulled Geneva to within 21-15, but Westminster finished the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 29-17 lead at the first break.

A three-pointer by junior Emily Melnek (Poland, Ohio/Poland) cut the Geneva deficit to 33-22 with just under six minutes to go until halftime, but the Titans finished the half on a 16-4 run to take a commanding 49-26 lead into the break.

Westminster carried that momentum into the third quarter, scoring the first seven points of the second half to take a 56-26 lead before another three-pointer by Melnek finally got the Golden Tornadoes on the board.  From there the Titans cruised to victory, finishing the third quarter ahead 71-41 on its way to an 86-50 win. 

Tipton lead the team with another double-double, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  It was her 12^th double-double of the year.  Luciana added 13 points in the loss.  Geneva shot just 26% from the floor, while Westminster finished at an even 50%.  The Golden Tornadoes made just 5-of-28 (18%) from three-point range.  Alazia Greaves led Westminster with a game-high 25 points.

"I thought we really came out flat tonight, and Westminster made us pay," said Head Coach Michael Grinder.  "We shot it particularly poorly tonight, and while Westminster is a really improved team, I thought it was less about them disrupting us tonight as it was more about our playing poorly from the start.  You can't do that on the road against a team like Westminster."

Geneva returns home for the final time this season when the Golden Tornadoes host Chatham on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for Senior Day.  Geneva will honor its three seniors in Luciana, Meghan Hirneisen (Greencastle, Pa./Greencastle-Antrim) and Lydia Roth (Butler, Pa./Homeschool) during the day's festivities.


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 145 traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality. Geneva is included on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's "2019 Best College Values" list and has one of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. 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.