BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball team traveled to W&J on Tuesday night, the top team in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC). The Golden Tornadoes hung with W&J before the Presidents pulled away in the second half to win 82-69. Geneva dropped to 5-5 on the season, 2-3 in the PAC, while W&J improved to 8-1 overall, 6-0 in the PAC.
Geneva's early game struggles continued on Tuesday as W&J scored the first ten points of the game over the first three minutes before junior Emily Garvin got the Golden Tornadoes on the board with a bucket. The Presidents eventually stretched their lead to 23-7 with three minutes left in the first quarter before Geneva pulled back into the game. Freshman Alexandra Cozzens knocked down a three-pointer, senior Mackenzie Barricklow scored in the paint, Garvin added a three-pointer, and junior Anna Ulmer laid one in for a quick ten-point burst to close within six points.
The Presidents slowly started to build their margin back up over the remainder of the half, though. W&J eventually pushed its lead to 43-28 before a bucket from Cozzens and a three-pointer from sophomore Aizlyn Thompson sent the teams into the break with W&J holding a 43-33 edge.
The Presidents put the game away in the third quarter, opening the second half on a 20-2 run to stretch their advantage to 63-35 with four minutes left in the quarter.
To Geneva's credit, the Golden Tornadoes never gave in, steadily cutting into the W&J lead in the fourth quarter. Another three-pointer from Cozzens late in the game almost got the deficit under double digits before W&J finished off the 82-69 win.
Garvin again led the offense with 19 points. Barricklow just missed another double-double, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Cozzens also totaled 15 points. As a team Geneva shot 24-of-69 (34.8%) from the floor, 9-of-29 (31%) from deep.
Two-time PAC Player of the Year Meghan Dryburgh led five Presidents in double figures with 18 points and 12 rebounds. W&J shot 28-of-70 (40%) from the floor, 7-of-17 (41.2%) from three-point range, and the Presidents outrebounded Geneva 53-38.
The women have the rest of the week off to focus on finals before hosting Bethany next Tuesday, December 17, at 5:30 p.m. in their final game before Christmas Break.
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).
