BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The game didn't start particularly well for the Geneva College women's basketball team on Wednesday night against Bethany, but boy did it end well.  Senior Emily Melnek (Poland, Ohio/Poland) made sure of that.  Melnek scored a career high 28 points, including eight three-pointers, in leading the Golden Tornadoes to a comeback 89-74 victory over the visiting Bison.  Geneva improved its record to 3-3 overall, 3-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Bethany dropped to 2-3 overall, 2-3 in the PAC.  With three wins in the conference, the Golden Tornadoes have already surpassed last year's conference win total, in just six games.

Melnek started the game with a three-pointer on the opening possession of the game, but back-to-back baskets by Bethany put Geneva behind, a place it would be the entire first half.  The Golden Tornadoes struggled offensively, and the Bison slowly extended their lead throughout the quarter.  Geneva would close to within three points, 19-16, on a layup from senior Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) with 1:13 left in the period, but Bethany scored the final four points of the period to pull ahead 23-16 at the first break.

Bethany continued to extend its lead, scoring the first five points of the second quarter to take its biggest lead of the game, 28-16.  However, on this night, the Golden Tornadoes would not fold.  With Geneva trailing 30-19, Melnek hit another three-pointer, followed by a layup from freshman Kielle Shaw (Richmond, Va./Lloyd C. Bird) and a basket from freshman Abby King (New Geneva, Pa./Albert-Gallatin), cutting the deficit to 30-26.  The Golden Tornadoes would close to within three points with two minutes remaining, but a 7-2 Bethany run to close the half enabled the Bison to take a 41-33 lead into the break.  Despite the late burst by Bethany, the momentum had clearly shifted.

Geneva exploded in the second half, scoring the first 12 points of the third quarter.  Sophomore Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City) hit a layup, Melnek drained another three-pointer, Tipton made a layup, Shaw hit a jumper, and Roth closed the run with a three-pointer to give the Golden Tornadoes their first lead since the opening minute, 45-41.  Bethany would briefly retake the lead, 52-49, with 3:31 remaining, but the Bison were clearly getting tired going against Geneva's full court pressure.  Geneva closed the quarter in a flurry.  Tipton hit back-to-back baskets to get the run started, and Melnek closed the quarter with back-to-back three-pointers, giving Geneva its biggest lead of the game to that point, 64-56, heading into the final break.

Bethany would pull to within three, 65-62, two minutes into the fourth quarter, but it was all Geneva from that point.  Melnek hit another three-pointer, freshman Emily Bucheit (Kane, Pa./Kane) added one from deep, Melnek hit another from deep, and Shaw hit a three-pointer to extend Geneva's lead to 78-63.  Melnek wasn't done yet, scoring five straight two minutes later, including her eighth three-pointer of the game, to push Geneva's lead to 87-65 with 2:37 remaining, and Geneva's reserves finished out the comeback victory, 89-74.

"We obviously didn't start the game very well, but we didn't quit," said Head Coach Michael Grinder.  "We shared the ball much better in the second half, and Melnek got the lid to come off in the second half, and everyone kind of followed suit.  You could tell that Bethany started to wear down, and I thought we really started to play how I want to play.  You could especially tell that our newcomers were starting to figure it out.  This is all part of the process of rebuilding this program to where we want it to be, and hopefully this was another step in that direction."

Melnek finished with a career high 28 points, including 8-of-13 from three-point range.  Tipton added another double-double, contributing 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.  Shaw provided Geneva was a steadying influence from her point guard position, adding eight points, eight steals and seven assists.  Freshman Cynthia Stewart (Silver Springs, Md./Paint Brach) also added seven assists, while grabbing four steals.  After shooting just 29% in the first half, Geneva shot 20-of-38 (53%) in the second half, including an impressive 11-of-18 effort from three-point range.  The Golden Tornadoes defense forced 32 Bethany turnovers, leading to 41 Geneva points off turnovers.

Geneva will stay at home this weekend, hosting Chatham next on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in Metheny Fieldhouse


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.