BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - It had been 19 straight losses to Grove City College for Geneva College's women's basketball team heading into Saturday's afternoon matchup against the Wolverines inside Metheny Fieldhouse. However, a strong all-around performance proved to be enough to end the streak for the Golden Tornadoes, giving Geneva a convincing, and much-needed, victory over the Wolverines 87-67, in front of a large home crowd. With the win, Geneva moves to 8-10 overall, 7-6 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Grove City falls to the same record of 8-10, 7-6 in PAC play. The win is also big for Geneva's chances of qualifying for the PAC playoffs next month.
An early three-pointer from
Mia San Nicolas got the scoring started for the Golden Tornadoes, and then the offenses of both teams seemed to stall out. Grove City was missing shots, Geneva was turning the ball over, and halfway through the quarter Grove City led just 6-3. An
Emily Bucheit three-pointer tied the score, thought, and then a quick five points from San Nicolas on a three-pointer and contested layup put Geneva up three. Geneva exited the first quarter leading 16-15.
The second quarter proved to be a big one for Geneva from behind the arc.
Taylor Milroy and
Anna Ulmer each hit early three-pointers, quickly followed by back-to-back threes by
Abby Shoaff. Free throws kept Grove City close for a few minutes, but the hot shooting continued for the GTs.
Bailee Fletcher and
Madison Kibler got in on the action knocking down a couple of deep shots, and Geneva cruised into the halftime break up 45-30 after shooting 7-of-10 from three-point range in the second frame.
Kibler opened the second half with an excellent driving layup going from right to left. Grove City battled to stay close, but layups from San Nicolas and Bucheit kept Geneva's lead right around 15 for the next few minutes.
Free throws provided much of Geneva's scoring in the middle part of the frame, and the GTs went 8-of-10 from the charity stripe in the third quarter alone. Geneva then ended the third quarter with a bang, with back-to-back three-pointers from
Aizlyn Thompson, followed by a layup from Fletcher, pushing the score to 69-48 with one quarter to play.
Milroy had a good driving layup on the first possession of the final period, taking the ball from halfcourt all the way to the rim with authority. San Nicolas knocked down a few more shots, and another Shoaff three-pointer extended Geneva's lead to 24 points, 87-63, their largest of the night before Geneva closed out the convincing victory, 87-67.
San Nicolas led all scorers with 24 points, adding eight rebounds, six blocks, and four assists to put together a very impressive stat line. Shoaff put up a season-high 13 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting, and Thompson also reached double digits with ten points and five rebounds. Milroy led the team in assists with six.
Geneva finished the game shooting 29-of-78 (37.2%) from the floor, but the women hit 14-of-33 (42.4%) three-pointers to lead the offense. Grove City shot just 23-of-80 (28.8%) from the floor, including just 1-of-16 (6.3%) from three-point range.
Geneva is on the road for both games next week, one at Franciscan on Wednesday and the other at Allegheny 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).
