BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day on Saturday afternoon inside Metheny Fieldhouse, recognizing their two seniors, Elise De Jong (Bloomington, Ind./Homeschool) and Shannon Wolfe (Alliance, Ohio/West Branch), prior to the game. Awaiting the Golden Tornadoes in the Senior Day matchup was first-place W&J, and though Geneva battled throughout, the Presidents were too strong and prevailed 65-54. W&J improved to 18-4 overall, 15-1 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Geneva dropped to 8-12, 7-8 in the PAC.
W&J came into Saturday afternoon's contest having won five straight games by an average of over 37 points per game, and early on the Presidents showed it. W&J scored the first six points of the game on its way to an 8-1 lead over the first four minutes, as Geneva failed to make a shot from the field early on.
However, the Golden Tornadoes scored eight quick points in less than a minute, on a layup and a three-pointer from junior Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City) and a three-pointer from junior Tess Liggett (Columbiana, Ohio/Columbiana) to take a 9-8 lead. With Geneva leading 11-10, though, the Golden Tornadoes went cold again. Over the next nine minutes, Geneva scored just two points, and by the midway point of the second quarter, Geneva trailed 27-13.
The Golden Tornadoes managed to cut their deficit to 31-24 on a three-pointer from sophomore Abby King (New Geneva, Pa./Albert-Gallatin) with two minutes left in the half, but the Presidents scored the final seven points to take a 38-24 lead into the break.
W&J carried that momentum into the second half, scoring the first five points of the third quarter to increase its lead to the biggest of the game, 43-24. The lead would never grow any higher, but for most of the quarter the Presidents' lead hovered around 16-18 points. Geneva managed to close within 54-40 heading into the final quarter.
Geneva never let W&J pull away in the fourth quarter, but turnovers and three-point shooting struggles prevented the Golden Tornadoes from really threatening the Presidents. A layup from freshman Taylor Jackson (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) with 2:43 remaining pulled Geneva within 61-50, but the Golden Tornadoes never got any closer, falling 65-54.
Roth led the offense with 15 points, while sophomore Cynthia Stewart (Silver Springs, Md./Paint Branch) added 10 points and six steals. Geneva shot just 32.8% from the floor, including 3-of-21 (14.3%) from three-point range. The Golden Tornadoes also committed 22 turnovers.
W&J finished the game shooting 39% from the floor while outrebounding Geneva 46-39. Megan Dryburgh led the Presidents with 18 points and 12 rebounds.
The women have a busy week to close out the regular season coming up. Geneva heads to Bethany on Monday night, plays at home against Saint Vincent on Wednesday night, and finishes up with a road game at Waynesburg on Saturday.
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).
