BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Golden Tornadoes women's basketball team was looking to tie their longest winning streak in seven years on Wednesday night inside Metheny Fieldhouse, but the women could not come away with their fourth straight win after a hard-fought match with the Westminster Titans. Westminster walked off the Metheny Fieldhouse floor victorious, defeating the GTs 72-67. Geneva dropped to 6-16 overall, 6-11 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Westminster improved to 13-9, 9-8 in the PAC.
A flurry of missed opportunities marred both teams' starts to the game. Geneva opened the game with four straight points, but halfway through the opening quarter, it was just a 5-4 lead for the Titans. That run would quickly grow to 13 straight points for the Titans, but Geneva answered with seven straight points of their own, mitigating the damage down to a two-point game, 17-15, at the end of the quarter.
Westminster, Geneva's longtime rivals to the north, managed to hold the lead for all of the second quarter, taking advantage of seven Geneva turnovers and grabbing a seven-point lead and a bench full of momentum heading into the halftime break, 34-27.
Geneva's offense responded with a faster-paced attack, led by junior Mia San Nicolas and sophomore Taylor Haring, who worked well together in transition. Geneva's defense came into the spotlight, too, as freshman Madi Matthews and sophomore Mackenzie Barricklow combined for six steals. While the Titans are the second-best rebounding team in the conference, averaging a positive rebounding margin of 7.8 rebounds per game, Geneva was able to hold a small edge on the boards for most of the game. This aggression reflected on the scoreboard, as they outscored Westminster by six in the third quarter, even taking a brief 50-49 lead late in the quarter.
Westminster retook the lead and pushed its edge out to 59-52 early in the fourth quarter. The Golden Tornadoes responded with seven straight points, the last a jumper from Haring, to pull even. The lead changed hands four times down the stretch, with a layup from Barricklow with two minutes left giving the Golden Tornadoes a 65-63 lead. However, Westminster made the plays it needed to down the stretch to pull out a 72-67 win, finishing the game on a 9-2 run.
Westminster's Natalie Murrio, a top-five scorer in the conference, led the charge for the Titans with 21 points on the night. For Geneva, three players crossed over into double digits. San Nicolas and Haring finished the game with 19 and 17 points, respectively, while Barricklow earned her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Golden Tornadoes are set to return to action on Saturday when the women travel to Bethany College for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff.
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).
