Women's basketball upended at Geneva, 62-56

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. (Jan. 24) - The Bethany College women's basketball was defeated 62-56 by Geneva in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game Wednesday night.

The Bison fall to 8-10 overall, 5-6 in the PAC. Meanwhile, the Golden Tornadoes improve to 2-9 in league play, 5-13 overall.

Bethany senior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier), the reigning PAC and ECAC Player of the Week, registered a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds (five offensive) to lead Bethany. Freshman guard Fallon Nicholson (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) chipped in 10 points, while junior guard Ashley Duthie (Madison, Ohio/Madison) added eight points in the loss.

The Bison got off to a slow start, converting only two of its first nine attempts, and Geneva opened the game with a 12-7 lead at the 2:39-mark of the first quarter. Bethany bounced back with 10-unanswered points, while forcing four Geneva turnovers, to take a 17-12 lead with 8:15 to play in the second quarter.

The Bison eventually took its biggest lead of the first half in the final two minutes of the second quarter when freshman Alison Kuhn (Lewisville, Ohio/Monroe Central) drained a trey to open up a 30-20 advantage. The Golden Tornadoes would close the half with consecutive baskets to head into halftime trailing the Bison 30-24.

Geneva closed the gap to two, 35-33, halfway through the third quarter. The Bison built their biggest lead of the night with nine-straight points, including a layup and a three-point shot on consecutive possesions by Nicholson, to take a 44-33 advantage with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter. 

The Golden Tornadoes controlled the next 10 minutes, out-scoring the Bison 20-to-8, including 10-straight points, to take a 53-52 lead with under three minutes left in the game. Bethany regained the lead twice, including a 56-55 edge on a Kuhn layup with 1:38 left in the game. Unfortunatly, Geneva closed the game out with seven-straight points, including all four of its free-throw attempts, to close out the win.

Callie Ford for Geneva finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the Golden Tornadoes.

The Bison are back at home on Saturday, January 27, when they host Westminster in a PAC game at 1 p.m.