BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Opening night of the season last week showed the progress the Geneva College women's basketball team is making, with a 25-point victory over Franciscan, Geneva's largest road victory since joining the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) in 2011.  Saturday night, however, showed there's still much progress to be made, as the Saint Vincent Bearcats, who won the PAC regular season title the last two seasons, dominated the first half on their way to a 95-61 win over Geneva.  The Bearcats moved to 1-0, 1-0 in the PAC, while Geneva fell to 1-1, 1-1 in the PAC.

Sophomore Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City) opened the game with a three-pointer to give Geneva a brief early lead.  It was all downhill from there.  The Golden Tornadoes went ice cold, missing their next 20 three-point shots in the first half, while Saint Vincent, playing its season opener, did just about everything well.  The Bearcats up-tempo, full-court pressure gave the Golden Tornadoes problems.  While Geneva was missing long shots and making turnovers on one end, Saint Vincent was converting layups and jump shots in transition on the other end, and the game got out of hand quickly. 

The Bearcats ended the first quarter ahead 35-11, and they extended the lead to 60-20 at the halftime break.  Geneva shot just 18% from the floor, including a 2-of-30 effort from three-point range in the half.  In contrast, the Bearcats shot 58% from the floor, including 6-of-9 from three-point range.

Geneva regrouped at halftime, and the young squad played better in the second half against Saint Vincent's full court pressure, while also generating some easy buckets in transition off its own full court pressure, enabling the Golden Tornadoes to gain a little bit of confidence heading into next week's games.  While the game was already out of hand, Geneva was able to outscore Saint Vincent by six in the second half, eventually falling 95-61.

"We couldn't have shot it any worse in the first half, and Saint Vincent couldn't have played much better," said Head Coach Michael Grinder.  "That said, this was a really good learning experience for our young squad to see what a top team looks like, up close and personal, and we'll be better for it going forward.  Saint Vincent has been the top team in the conference for the last couple years, and that's the type of team we are working to become.  It won't happen overnight, but as rough as tonight was at times, I believe we'll be better for it in the long run."

Roth led the team with 12 points, while freshman Cynthia Stewart (Silver Springs, Md./Paint Branch) added 11 points and senior Lauren Tipton (Glenside, Pa./Phil-Mont Christian) finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.  As a team, Geneva shot just 27% from the floor, including just 6-of-44 (14%) from three-point range.  Meanwhile Saint Vincent shot 48% from the floor, including 8-of-16 (50%) from three-point range.  Carlee Kilgus led six Bearcats in double figures with a game-high 19 points.

Geneva gets right back into action on Monday when the Golden Tornadoes travel to Waynesburg for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.


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.