HIRAM, Ohio – Junior Emily Garvin continued her hot start to the season by scoring a career-high 27 points, leading women's basketball to an 84-79 victory on the road against Hiram College on Tuesday evening. The GTs held off a potential Terriers comeback in the final quarter to push their record to 2-1 on the season. Hiram, on the flip side, tallies its first loss of the season and falls to 1-1.

Freshman Destanie McCullough got the scoring started for the GTs with two early buckets by way of a short pull-up jumper, followed by a heavily contested driving layup. Garvin then hit back-to-back layups to give the women their first lead of the game, 8-6.

The Terriers immediately responded with eight straight points, putting the Golden Tornadoes back in a hole. Geneva's offense began to click, however, and the women started to control the game with their signature speedy pace of play. Freshman Alexandra Cozzens corralled a rebound and ran the floor before sending a pass to cutting senior Mackenzie Barricklow, who finished the layup to put Geneva in front 16-14. A Barricklow three-pointer two minutes later gave the women a 21-20 lead with just under two minutes to play, and a transition trey from senior Abby Shoaff with nine seconds on the clock capped off a big offensive first quarter for the GTs. They went into the quarter break leading 26-22.

Midway through the second quarter, three consecutive three-pointers from sophomore Aizlyn Thompson, junior Anna Ulmer, and then Thompson again gave the GTs their first double-digit lead, 39-28. The women stuck around that ten-point difference for the remainder of the half, with Barricklow stealing a pass in the Hiram backcourt and hitting an easy layup to send Geneva into halftime with a 47-39 lead.

A turnaround jumper and then a transition layup from Garvin opened the second-half scoring for the two sides. Just over a minute later, Ulmer nailed a three-pointer to give the women their largest lead of the game to that point, 54-41. A Thompson three-pointer just a few possessions later pushed that lead to 59-41, which forced Hiram coach Alexandra Dellas to call timeout.

The Terriers came out of the timeout with a newfound vigor, and quickly cut into the Geneva lead by orchestrating a 15-2 run. Garvin knocked down a free throw to give Geneva the final point of the quarter, but the Golden Tornadoes' once-18-point lead sat at six heading into the final frame, 62-56.

Hiram kept its momentum as the fourth quarter began, starting the frame on a 10-2 run to take its first lead since the first quarter. A three-pointer from freshman Arionna White returned the advantage to Geneva, and then Garvin and Barricklow began to go to work. The two combined to score 15 of Geneva's 22 points in the fourth quarter, and all but two of the last 17 for the women. They kept the momentum on Geneva's side for the rest of the game, and the Golden Tornadoes came away with an 84-79 victory.

Garvin led the way once again for the GTs, scoring a career-high 27 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. She also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. Barricklow provided a terrific secondary option throughout the game, posting 14 points, five boards, and a team-high four assists. Thompson also played well, scoring 13 points in the win.

The women stay on the road when they travel to Wenham, Massachusetts, this weekend to take on the United States Coast Guard Academy and Gordon College in the Gordon College Classic. Their first game of the weekend comes against the USCGA on Friday, November 15, with tip-off slated for 5:30 PM.

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).