BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The La Roche Redhawks pulled away in the second half for an 88-65 victory over the Geneva College women's basketball team, who opened up the second semester's games inside Metheny Fieldhouse on Friday afternoon. La Roche improved to 4-7, while Geneva dropped to 2-9.
The first half proved a competitive affair, with the teams going back and forth. Junior Mia San Nicolas opened the game with a bucket before La Roche put together its best stretch of the half, pulling ahead for a 14-6 advantage midway through the first quarter. Turnovers and fouls were a problem for the Golden Tornadoes. Geneva managed to pull within 18-16 on another bucket by San Nicolas, though, but the Redhawks held onto a 25-22 lead at the first break.
Another basket by San Nicolas and a three-pointer from freshman Madi Matthews evened the scored at 27-27 early in the second quarter, and then a layup from freshman Hailey Carroll gave Geneva the lead back, 29-27. The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes, with junior Cynthia Stewart, making her first appearance of the season, scoring back-to-back baskets to give the Golden Tornadoes a 39-37 lead with two minutes left in the half. However, La Roche scored the final seven points in the quarter to take a 44-39 advantage at the break.
Geneva continued struggling with turnovers coming out of halftime, and the Redhawks took advantage. La Roche opened the third quarter with a 16-4 run to take a 60-43 lead, with the Golden Tornadoes making just one shot in the first six minutes while committing seven turnovers. Geneva never got closer than 15 points the rest of the game in falling 88-65.
The story of the game was turnovers and fouls for Geneva. The Golden Tornadoes committed 33 turnovers while racking up 31 fouls. That led to 40 free throw attempts for La Roche, compared to just 15 for Geneva. Stewart led the women with 17 points in her season debut, while San Nicolas added 13 points and nine rebounds. The Golden Tornadoes shot 35% (25-of-71) from the floor and 19% (5-of-26) from three-point range. La Roche shot just 39% (28-of-71) from the floor, 32% (7-of-22) from long range, but the Redhawks committed just 16 turnovers.
The women have a tough week coming up, beginning with a road game at Westminster on Tuesday and a home game against first-place W&J on Thursday, who has yet to lose in conference play.
Through purposeful learning in a community reflecting the full spectrum of God's kingdom, a Geneva College experience inspires students to discover a faith-life calling in service to God and neighbor. Offering 195+ traditional undergraduate majors and programs, fully online Adult Degree Programs and high-demand graduate degrees, Geneva's programs are recognized for their high quality and affordability. 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 the International Association for Christian Education (IACE).
