BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team raced out to a big lead at Gordon on Saturday in the final game of the Gordon Classic before having to hold off a late rally to defeat the Fighting Scots, 92-90.  The Golden Tornadoes received another huge game from junior Emily Garvin in improving to 3-2, the best start to season by the women's program since 2010.

Senior Mackenzie Barricklow opened the game with a quick layup, and sophomore Aizlyn Thompson followed with back-to-back three-pointers.  Two minutes later freshman Jessie Moon knocked down two free throws to give Geneva a ten-point lead before Gordon finally got on the board.  Thompson followed with her third early three-pointer, and another bucket from Barricklow gave the Golden Tornadoes a 15-2 lead just five minutes into the game.

Two minutes later a layup from Garvin gave Geneva its biggest lead of the opening quarter, 20-6, before Gordon closed the quarter on a run to pull within 25-18 at the first break.

Gordon eventually closed within five points, 29-24, early in the second quarter before a jumper from Garvin, a three-pointer from Barricklow and a layup from freshman Arionna White pushed the lead back up to 36-24.  The Golden Tornadoes eventually extended their lead to 53-36 on another bucket from Garvin before a three-pointer in the closing seconds by Gordon finished off the half with Geneva leading 53-39.

Thompson opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers, followed by a layup from Garvin, giving Geneva its biggest lead of the game to that point, 61-39.  A layup by freshman Alexandra Cozzens with just under four minutes left in the quarter eventually pushed the Geneva margin to 72-49.  The Golden Tornadoes appeared ready to coast to an easy victory before Geneva seemed to hit a wall, while Gordon got hot.

The Fighting Scots responded to their 23-point deficit with a big rally.  Over the next eight minutes, Gordon put together a 33-8 run to grab its first lead of the game, 82-80, with six minutes remaining in the game.  The game was remarkably similar to Geneva's game at Hiram earlier this week, and just like that night, the Golden Tornadoes refused to fold despite seeing their opponent put together a big rally.

Junior Anna Ulmer hit two free throws to pull Geneva even, and the game stayed tight over the next four minutes.  With two minutes remaining and the women trailing 88-87, Garvin hit two free throws to give the Golden Tornadoes the lead back.  Ulmer followed with a steal and a bucket, and then Ulmer grabbed a defensive rebound on Gordon's next possession and was fouled, hitting one of her two free throws to give Geneva a 92-88 lead with 1:31 left.

After both teams traded empty possession, the Fighting Scots pulled within a bucket with 41 seconds left.  Garvin appeared to have won the game when she finished through contact at the rim with 17 seconds left, but Gordon caught a huge break when the referee instead called a charge on Garvin, her fifth foul of the game.  That gave the Fighting Scots one last chance, but Geneva's defense came up big and didn't allow Gordon to score, closing out the 92-90 win.

Garvin equaled her career high with 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor, while adding nine rebounds, three steals and three assists.  Thompson added 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from three-point range.  Ulmer had another strong game with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Barricklow added 11 points and eight rebounds.  As a team Geneva shot 33-of-79 (41.8%) from the floor, 10-of-34 (29.4%) from three-point range.  The women also forced 25 Gordon turnovers.

Gordon finished the game shooting 30-of-73 (41.1%) from the floor, 8-of-24 (33.3%) from three-point range.  Ami Rivera led the Fighting Scots with 24 points.

After opening the season with five road games in nine days, the women will now enjoy a week off before opening conference play next Saturday against Waynesburg in their home opener, with the tipoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.