STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Geneva College women's basketball team made quite an impression in their season-opener at Franciscan on Saturday afternoon.  The Golden Tornadoes received big contributions from several newcomers in leading wire-to-wire in a dominating 85-61 victory over the Barons.  Geneva is now 1-0 on the season, including 1-0 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Franciscan fell to 0-2, 0-2 in the PAC.

Coach Michael Grinder, entering his second season at Geneva, knew he would need to find improved guard play out on the recruiting trail as he put together his first full class of recruits this past offseason, if he was going to be able to successfully play his up-tempo style.  His newcomers paid immediate dividends right from the start, an encouraging sign for a program that has gone through significant struggles in recent years.

Freshman Cynthia Stewart (Silver Springs, Md./Paint Branch) grabbed the opening tip and drove in for a layup just seconds into the game to put Geneva immediately on the board.  A few moments later, Stewart shot into the passing lane to steal a Franciscan pass, and she drove the length of the court for an easy layup to put the Golden Tornadoes up by four less than 30 seconds into the contest.  Geneva never trailed the rest of the game.

However, the one thing Geneva did not do well early was defend without fouling, with Geneva picking up five fouls in the opening two and a half minutes to push Franciscan into the bonus very early in the game.  That allowed the Barons, who ended up shooting ten free throws in the first quarter, to hang around, with Geneva taking an 18-15 lead into the second quarter.

The first few minutes of the second quarter enabled fans to see what Geneva's suffocating full-court defense can do when it is clicking.  The Golden Tornadoes scored the first ten points of the quarter as part of a larger 16-3 run to put Geneva ahead 34-18 four minutes before halftime.  The Barons struggled at times to even get the ball across half court against Geneva's pressure, leading to easy baskets off turnovers for the Golden Tornadoes.  However, Geneva went cold the final four minutes, allowing Franciscan to cut Geneva's lead to 37-29 at the break.

Franciscan opened the second half with a bucket to pull within six, but the Golden Tornadoes released a barrage of several 3-pointers over the next few minutes to break the game open.  Sophomore Tess Liggett (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana) started things with a long 3-pointer, freshman Abby King (New Geneva, Pa./Albert-Gallatin) added two from long range, while freshman Anna Hampshire (Lincoln University, Pa./Oxford Area) knocked one down from deep as well.  Senior Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) added back-to-back buckets in the run giving Geneva a 56-35 lead halfway through the third quarter.  The Golden Tornadoes maintained a 61-44 lead going into the final period.

Geneva's pressure continued to give Franciscan problems, and the Golden Tornadoes put the game away early in the fourth quarter.  Geneva scored 12 straight points in just over two minutes to open the quarter, increasing Geneva's lead to 73-44, and the Golden Tornadoes coasted the rest of the way in the 85-61 win.

Liggett, a transfer from Point Park, led the Geneva offense with 16 points, while also grabbing eight rebounds.  Tipton picked up right where she left off last season with another double-double, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Stewart also reached double figures with 13 points, while King added 11 points off the bench.  All total, 11 different players scored for Geneva, including 51 points from newcomers on this season's roster.  The Golden Tornadoes forced 31 Franciscan turnovers, with sophomore Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City) leading the way with five steals, while Geneva held the Barons to just 28% shooting from the floor.

"We played up-tempo from start to finish," said Coach Grinder.  "We created a lot of turnovers which allowed us to take a lot of shots, and I was happy with the pace of the game.  We just need to improve on a few things on the offensive end, and we have to defend without fouling.  All that said, I thought after three months of only playing against ourselves in practice, we played pretty well."

Geneva will get a chance to play next at home, with the Golden Tornadoes hosting Saint Vincent next Saturday, February 6, at 7:00 p.m.  The game will be the season opener for the Bearcats, who lost just one game in the PAC last season.


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.