BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – After opening the season with seven straight road games, the Geneva College women's basketball team finally got a chance to play in front of the home crowd inside Metheny Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon, and the results were sweet as the ladies ran away from Franciscan for a 90-64 victory. The win improved Geneva's record to 2-6 overall, 2-3 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while the Barons dropped to 1-5, 0-4 in the PAC.
Junior Mia San Nicolas opened the game with a layup, and the teams traded baskets for most of the first quarter. A three-pointer from sophomore Abby Shoaff evened the score at 12-12 with four minutes remaining before Franciscan scored five straight points to take its biggest lead of the game, 17-12. However, Geneva finished the quarter with two free throws from senior Tess Liggett and a three-pointer from sophomore Mackenzie Barricklow to pull even at 17-17 at the first break.
San Nicolas opened the second quarter with the first three-pointer of her career to finish off an 8-0 run between the two quarters, and Geneva would actually never trail again. Franciscan managed to hang close, though, pulling even at 23-23 midway through the quarter. Another three-pointer from Shoaff gave the Golden Tornadoes a lead they would not relinquish. A minute later, a three-pointer from Madi Matthews pushed the lead to six, and three-pointers from sophomore Lily Ybarra, junior Anna Hampshire and another from Shoaff helped extend the lead to 42-30 at the break.
The Golden Tornadoes held Franciscan at arm's length for most of the third quarter, with the lead hovering between 11 and 17 points the whole period. Every time the Barons looked like they might cut the lead under double digits, Geneva had an answer, taking a 58-43 lead into the final break.
Franciscan closed within 63-51 three minutes into the final quarter before Geneva put the game away with eight straight points. Matthews and senior Isabella Roth each hit three-pointers, along with a bucket from junior Emily Bucheit. The women cruised the rest of the way, with the final margin of 90-64 the largest lead of the game for the Golden Tornadoes.
San Nicolas led the team with 20 points, while Matthews added 14. Geneva had a very balanced attack, with 12 different players scoring at least two points and seven different players hitting at least one three-pointer. Bucheit finished with a career-high 10 assists to go with nine rebounds, three steals, three points and two blocks in a strong all-around effort. The women shot just 29-of-81 (35.8%) from the floor, but 13-of-38 (34.2%) from three-point range. The Golden Tornadoes also forced 38 Baron turnovers.
Geneva will close out its brief two-game homestand on Wednesday when the Golden Tornadoes host undefeated Carnegie Mellon at 5:00 p.m. The Tartans are 7-0 and have already beaten three PAC opponents, Allegheny, Grove City and Waynesburg, by an average of 30 points each.
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 has one of the top 100 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. Geneva was founded and is governed by the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and is a founding member of both the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) and IACE (International Association for Christian Education).
