BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Geneva College women's basketball game against Saint Vincent on Saturday afternoon came down to the final seconds, with the Golden Tornadoes suffering a heartbreaking loss at the end, 76-73.  The loss drops Geneva's record to 9-10 overall, 6-8 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC), while Saint Vincent improved to 11-8, 10-4 in the PAC.

Saint Vincent opened the game with five straight points before the Golden Tornadoes used the three-point shot to put together 11 straight points.  Sophomore Aizlyn Thompson hit one from deep to get Geneva on the board, followed by a three-pointer from junior Anna Ulmer to give the women their first lead.  A layup from freshman Destanie McCullough, and another three-pointer from Thompson capped off the run.

The Bearcats answered with an 11-point run of their own, though, before McCullough finally broke the run with a layup.  Saint Vincent took a 17-13 lead into the first break.

Geneva battled foul trouble for most of the game, with junior Emily Garvin, the leading scorer in the PAC, sitting for much of the first half after picking up two early fouls.  Ulmer and freshman Alexandra Cozzens also spent significant time on the bench because of foul trouble.  Despite that, the women opened the second quarter with a 14-5 run to grab their biggest lead of the game to that point, 29-22, on a layup from Garvin after she returned from a 12-minute stint on the bench.  A late three-pointer from senior Abby Shoaff, her second of the quarter, allowed Geneva to take a 35-32 lead into the intermission.  Geneva made 5-of-6 three-pointers in the period.

The Golden Tornadoes held a slim margin for much of the third quarter before a late run by Saint Vincent, 11 straight points, gave the Bearcats a 55-50 lead at the final break.

Geneva battled back early in the fourth quarter, though.  A three-pointer from Barricklow, a layup from sophomore Monica Lammie and another three-pointer from Ulmer gave Geneva the lead back, 64-62, with six minutes left.  Saint Vincent answered back with a run, and the Bearcats scored with 1:54 left to take a 71-67 edge.

Garvin followed on the next possession with a three-point play, and then a free throw from Barricklow, and two from Cozzens with 31 seconds left gave the women a 73-71 lead.

Saint Vincent called timeout and set up a play, and the Bearcats found Makenna Maier open underneath with eight seconds left, and she scored and was fouled, putting Saint Vincent up by one. 

After calling a timeout to move the ball up to midcourt for the inbounds play, Geneva got the ball to Garvin who drove and drew contact at the rim on her shot, but the refs let the play continue.  The Bearcats took advantage by grabbing the rebound and converting two free throws with one second left to close out the win.

Garvin led the team with 17 points, while Barricklow had another huge game on the boards, grabbing a career high 19 rebounds, while adding eight points.  Thompson also reached double figures with 11 points.  Geneva had to battle against some tough whistles all game, with the women being called for 25 fouls compared to just 13 on Saint Vincent.  The Bearcats were led by Emily Thompson's 20 points.

Geneva's tough stretch continues on Wednesday when the women host first place W&J at 5:30 p.m.