GREENVILLE, Pa. — Freshman Byanca Henderson (Youngstown, Ohio, Austintown-Fitch) made her home debut for Thiel Saturday against visiting Geneva, providing the spark the Tomcats needed in a 73-65 win.

Henderson, who missed the first five games of the season with an injury, scored 22 points, pulled down five boards and added three blocks and two steals as the Tomcats held on for their first win of the season, improving to 1-5 overall. The win comes over a Golden Tornadoes team that falls to 4-3, but has a win over Presidents' Athletic Conference member Washington & Jefferson.

The Tomcats looked like a different team than the one that began the season with five losses. Coach Angie Zeuch's squad showed improvement on both ends of the floor, especially with ball movement and shot selection on offense. As a team, Thiel finished 45 percent from the floor and drained six of its 12 3-point attempts. Another huge stride was made at the foul line, where the Tomcats made 17 of 21 attempts, by far their best performance in that category this season.

It was a slow start at first for the Tomcats, who didn't score their first bucket until Leanna Yeager (Poland, Ohio, Poland Seminary) made a putback 3:06 into the game. But once they got rolling, Geneva struggled to keep pace. Thiel led by as much as 20 and was up 38-20 at the half.

The big lead was fueled by a 14-0 run that included points by five different Thiel players. Kelly Muffley (Salsburg, Pa., Western Reserve Academy) started it with a 3-pointer while Rianne Thornton (Trotwood, Ohio, Trotwood-Madison) ended it with a pair of free throws. In between, Kathryn Fife (Canonsburg, Pa., Peters Township) and Yeager made layups and Henderson tallied five points.

The Golden Tornadoes battled back in the second half, chipping away at the lead until they found themselves down by just five points following a Leah Prisuta 3-pointer with 23 seconds left in the game. The Tomcats staved off the big comeback with three Henderson free throws to complete the scoring.

Bethany Hines (Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown Early College) totaled 11 points in the win while Muffley reached double figures with 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds. With less of the offensive load on her shoulders, Thornton was able to thrive on what she does best, disrupting the opponents' offense. She recorded six of the team's 14 steals. Yeager finished with eight points and six rebounds. Chelsi Clark (Greenwich, Ohio, South Central) and Fife contributed eight and seven points, respectively.

Alyse Scarsella was the highlight of the Geneva loss with her double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Beth DeLuca had 12 points and eight boards and teammate Chelsea D'Urso, a graduate of nearby Reynolds High School, had 10 points in just 12 minutes of playing time.

Thiel will look for back-to-back wins when it plays a non-conference game against Denison on Wednesday at Beeghly Gymnasium.