The Geneseo women’s basketball team has gotten off to a hot start this season. The third-seeded Knights’ record remains without blemish after they defeated the Rochester Institute of Technology on Tuesday Dec. 3 at the Wendy’s College Classic. The tournament is in its 48th iteration and looks to give area teams a chance to compete against one another, as many of the teams play in different conferences. Head coach Scott Hemer said that he likes to use this tournament as a “measuring stick” to see what the team needs to do to get ready for conference play.
Against RIT, the Knights looked ready as ever.
From the get-go, Geneseo was clearly the dominant team against the Tigers. The Knights’ up-tempo style of play proved to be too much for RIT, as the Tigers had seven turnovers, five of which were steals by Geneseo.
“We jumped all over them,” Hemer said. “We looked like the team the coaching staff envisions them being.”
Following a 23-7 scoring run, the Knights went into halftime up 49-25 – the first time all season the Knights closed out the first half with the lead. Hemer said the Knights have struggled keeping the pace of play for all 40 minutes, which explains why, even being up by 22 at one point, he was still expecting more from his team.
Twenty of those first-half points belonged to junior Shannon McGinnis, who had a career night with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Through the first four games, she averages 20.5 points per game and 10.5 rebounds per game, good for a double-double each time.
Sophomore Dana Cohen also played a vital role in the game, supplying a career-high nine assists. She averages 4.8 assists per game, the most on the team.
Despite the big win, Hemer does not appear satisfied. Not to say that he is upset, but he said there are always things to improve.
“I am a perfectionist, and I have high expectations,” he said. “If they didn’t have the talent level, it would be a different story.”
With the victory, Geneseo advances to the semifinal game against defending Wendy’s Classic champions University of Rochester at 6 p.m. on Thursday Dec. 5 at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester. The No. 2 seed this year, Rochester defeated SUNY Brockport on Tuesday Dec. 3 with a score of 56-46.