GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College women's basketball team produced a quartet of double-digit scorers Tuesday night as the No. 3 seed Wolverines earned a 101-69 home win over No. 6 seed Geneva in the quarterfinals of the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament at the Grove City College Arena.
Grove City (8-1) will now visit No. 2 Washington & Jefferson (7-0) in Wednesday's semifinals. W&J edged No. 7 Bethany, 66-62, in a quarterfinal game.
Senior guard
Jess Bowen (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) fired in a game-high 26 points for the Wolverines while freshman forward
Kat Goetz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) posted 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Sophomore guard
Emma Vezzosi (St. Mary's County, Md./Leonardtown) tossed in 11 points and junior forward
Allison Podkul (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) added 10 points.
Grove City trailed 18-15 with two minutes remaining in the first quarter but the Wolverines surged ahead with an 11-3 run. Bowen and senior guard
Lindsey Stanforth (Novelty, Ohio/West Geauga) sparked the sput with consecutive layups. Senior forward
Jessica Kimbrell (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) put Grove City up 21-18 by hitting a pair of free throws.
Kimbrell scored in the paint with 45 seconds left in the first quarter and Stanforth capped the run by hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving Grove City a 26-21 lead after 10 minutes.
Grove City then opened the second quarter with a 12-4 outburst. Bowen scored seven of the 12 points while senior guard
Jordan McConnell (Smithville, Ohio/Smithville) scored on a driving layup with seven minutes left, giving Grove City a 40-25 lead. Sophomore guard
Megan Kallock (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Salem) punctuated the run with a three-point play.
Goetz scored in the closing moments of the first half to give Grove City a 51-35 halftime lead. The Wolverines then outscored Geneva, 34-17, in the third quarter.
Bowen pulled in nine rebounds to help Grove City earn a 56-37 edge on the glass. Goetz and Podkul both had six rebounds. Bowen also led Grove City with seven assists and four steals.
McConnell recorded five assists and three steals. Stanforth and Vezzosi each assisted three field goals. Goetz blocked four shots.
Grove City shot 42 of 89 (47 percent) from the field while Geneva finished 29 of 68 (43 percent) on field goals. Grove City had 22 turnovers while Geneva turned over the ball 34 times.
Emily Melnek led Geneva with 16 points. Isabella Roth added 15 and Lauren Tipton posted a 13-point, 14-rebound double-double.
Grove City defeated W&J in last year's tournament final, 54-52. W&J defeated Grove City in the 2019 tournament semifinals, 54-43. The teams did not play this season due to multiple COVID-related postponements.
The Grove City-W&J winner will face either Saint Vincent or Westminster in Saturday's title game.
