BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team fell into a big early hole on Wednesday night at home against Grove City, and despite a second-half rally, the Golden Tornadoes were unable to dig out of their early hole and fell to the Wolverines 91-84. Geneva dropped to 7-11 overall, 6-7 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Grove City improved to 13-6, 10-3 in the PAC.
Things started poorly for Geneva, as the Golden Tornadoes struggled with turnovers in the first quarter against the Grove City defensive pressure. The Wolverines scored the first six points of the game as part of a 12-2 run. Geneva pulled to within six points, 17-11, when junior Isabella Roth (Ellwood City, Pa./Ellwood City), sophomore Abby King (New Geneva, Pa./Albert-Gallatin) and freshman Lily Ybarra (Corpus Christi, Texas/Tuloso-Midway) knocked down three-pointers, but Grove City closed the quarter with seven straight points to take a 24-11 at the first break. The Golden Tornadoes committed 11 turnovers in the quarter and shot just 26.7%.
Geneva again closed to within six points early in the second quarter, 30-24, on a layup from sophomore Emily Bucheit (Kane, Pa./Kane), and the lead hovered around that mark for the next four minutes before Grove City finished the half on a 10-2 run to take a 51-37 lead into the break.
The Wolverines looked ready to blow the game open early in the third quarter. Grove City opened the second half on an 11-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 62-42, just three minutes into the quarter. Back-to-back steals and layups from sophomore Cynthia Stewart (Silver Springs, Md./Paint Branch) gave Geneva the spark it needed to get back into the game, though. The Golden Tornadoes scored the next eight points, and after Grove City pushed the lead back to 17 points, 67-50, Geneva responded with a 12-2 run to pull within 69-62 with a minute remaining in the quarter. Stewart and Bucheit hit back-to-back three-pointers, while junior Mia San Nicolas (Sinajana, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam) added five points in the run.
Grove City opened with a burst early in the fourth quarter, though, to push the lead back to 80-66. The women continued to battle, though, with back-to-back layups from Stewart helping the Golden Tornadoes pull within 80-74 with 6:58 remaining. Geneva would get to as close as five points, 82-77, on a three-pointer from Stewart with 4:39 left, but the Wolverines never allowed Geneva to get any closer, making enough shots down the stretch to hold on for the 91-84 victory.
Geneva outscored Grove City by six points over the final three quarters but couldn't overcome the poor start. San Nicolas led the way with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Stewart added 16 points, freshman Taylor Jackson (Clairton, Pa./Clairton) 11 points and King 10 points for the Golden Tornadoes. Geneva finished the game shooting 40% from the floor, including 11-of-33 (33.3%) from three-point range, but the Golden Tornadoes committed 26 turnovers.
Grove City finished the game shooting 45.1% from the floor and outrebounded Geneva 53-45. The Wolverines were led by senior Megan Kallock's 29 points.
The women continue their tough stretch of games against the top teams in the PAC with a game at Bethany on Saturday at 1:00 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 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).
