BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – In a game that was tight almost the whole contest, the Geneva College women's basketball team made the key plays late to pull out a 72-69 victory over Allegheny on Saturday afternoon inside Metheny Fieldhouse. The victory evens Geneva's overall record to 3-3 and improves its Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) record to 3-2. Allegheny dropped to 2-6, 2-2 in the PAC.
Both teams started slowly offensively. It took almost three minutes for Geneva to make its first basket from the floor, a layup from junior Mackenzie Barricklow, but a slow start by the Gators kept the score close. A minute later, another basket from Barricklow gave the Golden Tornadoes a brief 6-5 lead.
Allegheny scored the next six points, but a three-pointer from senior Emily Bucheit kept Geneva close. The Gators pushed their lead as high as 15-9 before a three-pointer from sophomore Anna Ulmer, another bucket from Barricklow and a three-pointer from freshman Monica Lammie allowed Geneva to stay close at the end of the quarter, trailing 18-17.
Geneva opened the second quarter with buckets from seniors Mia San Nicolas and Cynthia Milroy. The Golden Tornadoes led 23-20 before Allegheny scored nine straight points. A moment later, an Allegheny three-pointer from Sofia Genareo, who led the Gator offense all game, gave Allegheny its biggest lead of the game, 32-25, midway through the quarter.
Geneva battled back late, though, scoring the last six points of the half on two free throws from freshman Aizlyn Thompson and back-to-back layups from Taylor and Cynthia Milroy. The women struggled to find the range from deep but created turnovers leading to easy buckets to fuel their offense in the first half, and Geneva headed into the break trailing by just one, 34-33.
Allegheny opened the second half with three straight baskets to push its lead back out to seven points, 40-33, but a three-pointer from Taylor Milroy, followed by a steal and fast-break basket from Cynthia Milroy, kept the Golden Tornadoes close. Another three-pointer from Genareo pushed the Gator edge back to five points, but a jumper from San Nicolas, a layup from Taylor Milroy, a jumper from freshman Madison Kibler and another bucket from Milroy gave Geneva its first lead since early in the second quarter, 46-43.
Neither team could really create much separation over the final 15 minutes of the game. Allegheny retook the lead, 51-50, heading into the fourth quarter, and the lead alternated back and forth before the Gators seven straight points to grab a 63-58 lead with just over three minutes remaining.
The Golden Tornadoes refused to go away, though, and when Thompson drained a three-pointer from the wing with 1:44 remaining, Geneva pulled even at 67-67. The women then got a stop defensively, and San Nicolas followed with two free throws on Geneva's next possession to give the Golden Tornadoes the lead back. The Golden Tornado defense came up big with stops late, and two free throws from Taylor Milroy with 14 seconds remaining gave Geneva its first two-possession lead all game, 72-68, enabling the Golden Tornadoes to close out the win, 72-69.
After a slow first half, San Nicolas scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half to lead the offense. Taylor Milroy added 13 points, while Cynthia Milroy scored 12 points and finished with seven steals, causing problems for the Allegheny offense all game. Barricklow recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
As a team, Geneva shot just 25-of-82 (30.5%) from the floor and 5-of-26 (19.2%) from three-point range. However, the women forced 23 Gator turnovers, compared to just 12 turnovers for the Golden Tornadoes. Geneva's work at the free throw line was also huge, with the women hitting 17-of-18 (94.4%) and needing almost all of them to win.
Allegheny shot 27-of-79 (34.2%) from the floor and 4-of-14 (28.6%) from three-point range. The Gators tried to compensate for their turnover deficit with a 61-47 rebounding advantage. Genareo scored a game-high 23 points to lead Allegheny, including three of its four long range shots.
The women have a busy week next week, playing three times, all on the road. Geneva opens the week with a non-conference game at Carnegie Mellon on Monday, followed by conference games at Waynesburg, on Wednesday, and Saint Vincent, on Saturday.
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).
