BEAVER FALLS, Pennsylvania—Franciscan University's women's basketball team fell to Geneva College 65-55 in the second game of this weekend's Geneva Tournament. Both games against Houghton and Geneva Colleges were non-conference, therefore giving FUS an opportunity to warm up before their conference games next Friday and Saturday.

After losing to Houghton College 75-41, Franciscan was shaken by their lack of consistency at the beginning of the tournament. However, they were able to turn it around, playing hard against the Golden Tornadoes.

"We had a lot to adjust to," head coach Suzy Delaney said. "The girls battled the entire game, and they played better today than yesterday."

Geneva came out with a zone defense, causing FUS to adjust to a less familiar style of defense. The girls also continued to adjust to some new positions due to roster changes for the spring semester, including sophomore Helen Raines who played point guard for the second straight game.

Along with teammate Lacey Huck, Raines came out looking for shots. Both Huck and Raines carried the team with their scoring. Huck totaled 25 points and 13 rebounds, her sixth double-double of the season, while Raines added 12 points and 6 assists.

"Lacy and Helen both played almost the entire game," Delaney said. "We relied on them to score and to play consistently, which they did."

During the first half, neither team had a distinct lead. FUS hung with Geneva, nailing three's when they needed them the most. With seven 3-pointers in the first half, Franciscan came out much stronger than the previous night. Huck had an amazing game, hitting four of her five 3-pointers within the first thirteen minutes of the game.

Down by three points, with three seconds left to go in the first half, Raines nailed her second 3-pointer with an assist from Huck to tie the game 33-33 at the half.

"The girls played consistently throughout the game, yet they missed some shot opportunities in the second half that really set us back and allowed Geneva to get ahead," Delaney said.

Coming out a little slower after halftime, FUS had five turnovers within the first five minutes. Throughout the second half, Geneva had multiple runs, putting Franciscan behind with not enough time to come back and catch up.

Raines was the only FUS player to score in the final six minutes of the game, nailing her fourth 3-pointer to set the final score 65-55.

"Although we've been working very hard this week, the tournament just didn't go our way at the end," Delaney said. "We'd love to win every game, but what matters most are the conference games, and this tournament was good preparation for our games to come."

The Franciscan women's team will play Penn-State Behrend and University of Pittsburgh-Bradford January 5th and 6th at home at 1 pm, both of which are conference matches.