Pittsburgh, PA - If there was ever a time for Geneva women′s head basketball coach Renee Drake to say a win is a win is a win it would be after Thursday′s 42-36 victory at Carlow University. It was far from pretty and the game tape will not be making its way to the basketball hall of fame anytime soon. After an 18 day lay-off for Geneva′s women, the Golden Tornadoes were able to improve to 6-4 on the season.
Geneva′s 42 points was its lowest total in a victory since the first year of intercollegiate basketball in 1972 when the Golden Tornadoes defeated Penn State Beaver 28-16. The Golden Tornadoes took a ten point lead into halftime and held off a charging Carlow team down the stretch. The Celtics cut the lead to just three points at 39-36 with 19 seconds to play but a lay-up on a perfectly executed in-bounds play followed by a free throw by Christine Carugati in the final seconds iced the game away for the Golden Tornadoes.
"This is never an easy place to play," said Drake. "We certainly had some rust after the long lay-off as did they in the early going. "I was proud of the way our ladies continued to fight throughout the game despite our problems on offense. We forced several turnovers and we were able to capitalize with some easy baskets on the other end of the floor."
Geneva finished 2010 with a record of 6-4 which is the best start for the Golden Tornadoes′ women in three seasons. "We are far from where we want to be," said Drake. "But we have clearly made some strides in the right direction and we are excited about the upcoming stretch of conference games."
Leah Prisuta led the Geneva offense with ten points while Valerie Hamilton chipped in with nine points in the victory. Prisuta also came up with a career best nine steals in the game to help the Golden Tornadoes. Defensively, Geneva held Carlow without a double digit scorer in the game and was able to hold the Celtics to a season low 36 points. It is the second time this year that Geneva has held an opponent to less than 40 points in a game. Geneva held Penn State Greater Allegheny to just 30 points in the second game of the season.
The competition becomes much tougher next week when the Golden Tornadoes welcome nationally ranked Thomas More to Metheny Fieldhouse on Monday night. Geneva will then travel to nationally ranked Saint Vincent next Thursday before visiting Chatham a week from Saturday in what will be a very busy three game week for the Golden Tornadoes.
Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College′s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).
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