BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball game on Saturday night against Chatham was a bit of a microcosm of the Golden Tornadoes' season so far this year.  There have been some highs, but there have also been some lows, and on Saturday two really poor stretches doomed the Geneva women, who fell to the Cougars 84-67.  Chatham earned its first victory of the season, improving to 1-3 overall, 1-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva fell to 3-4 overall, 3-4 in the PAC.

Chatham opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers by guard Riley D'Angelo, who picked up right where she left off after making 10 three-pointers last season in Metheny Fieldhouse.  Geneva responded with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City) and freshman Abby King (New Geneva, Pa./Albert-Gallatin).  Another three-pointer, this time by freshman Anna Hampshire (Lincoln University, Pa./Oxford Area) with 4:11 remaining, gave the Golden Tornadoes their first lead of the game, 9-8.  Geneva's fourth three-pointer of the game came a minute later, this one from senior Emily Melnek (Poland, Ohio/Poland), and King scored the final five points of the quarter, including her second three-pointer of the game, to give Geneva a 19-18 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Golden Tornadoes opened the quarter with back-to-back buckets from freshman Cynthia Stewart (Silver Springs, Md./Paint Branch) and sophomore Tess Liggett (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana) to give Geneva its biggest lead of the game, 23-18.  Things fell apart from there.  Chatham went on an 18-0 run over the next five minutes.  The Golden Tornadoes committed six fouls, turned it over five times and missed five field goals and three free throws over that stretch, and all of a sudden Geneva was staring at a 36-23 deficit with three minutes remaining before halftime.  The Golden Tornadoes finally scored on a free throw from junior Shannon Wolfe (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch), but that didn't stop Chatham from taking a 45-30 lead into the break.

The Cougars built their lead to 55-36 five minutes into the third quarter, and Geneva looked like it was going to get blown off the court.  But the Golden Tornadoes responded with their best stretch of the night.  Geneva put together a 14-1 run over the next three minutes, with six different Golden Tornadoes scoring in the stretch.  A minute later, Melnek hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull Geneva within 58-56, and the Golden Tornadoes had a chance to retake the lead in the closing seconds of the quarter, but Melnek's next three-pointer missed and Chatham converted a layup off her miss to take a 60-56 lead heading into the final break.

Unfortunately, whatever momentum Geneva had going disappeared in the quarter break.  The Golden Tornadoes had their second bad stretch of the night to begin the fourth.  The Cougars opened the quarter with a 14-3 lead to blow the game back open, 74-59, with 6:13 remaining, and Geneva never threatened again in falling 84-67.  Combined with the first half, Chatham outscored Geneva 32-3 over those two five-minute stretches in the second and fourth quarters.

"We had our chances tonight," said Head Coach Michael Grinder.  "We had them on the ropes at the end of the third quarter, and we just didn't take advantage of our opportunities.  I thought we played like freshmen at times tonight, especially our guards, who are mostly freshmen.  I told the team in the locker room that we've seen what we can do when we play well together.  Tonight was not a good example of that, but we'll get there."

Senior Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian Academy) led the offense with 12 points, while Melnek and Stewart each added 11 points apiece.  Geneva shot 36% from the floor, including an 8-of-34 (24%) effort from three-point range.  The Golden Tornado pressure forced 27 turnovers, but Geneva turned it over 25 times itself.  The Golden Tornadoes were dominated on the boards, losing the rebounding battle 56-35.  Geneva also committed 27 fouls, which led to 31 free throws for the Cougars.  Chatham's Kaitlyn Fertig led the Cougars with 20 points, with all five Chatham starters finishing in double figures.

Geneva heads to Westminster next Wednesday for a 6:00 p.m. tipoff, and the Golden Tornadoes close the regular season with a game next Saturday at home against Thiel, beginning at 7:00 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 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.