BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Thiel College women's basketball team made a late comeback Saturday that fell a bit short in an 81-79 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) loss on the road to the Geneva Golden Tornadoes.
 
The Tomcats opened the game on a 10-0 run behind three-pointers from Kayla Welty (Portville, N.Y./Portville ) and Jess Vormelker (Orwell, Ohio/Grand Valley) and a pair of layups by Hannah Stoneman (Sugarcreek, Ohio/Hiland) and Taylor Ketler (Dalton, Ohio/Dalton), but the Golden Tornadoes rebounded to hold a 46-40 lead at halftime.
 
Geneva led by 16 points with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Thiel went on a 19-2 run and took the lead 79-78 with 18 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Vormelker. Geneva held on for the win down the stretch by sinking a trio of free throws.
 
Vormelker, a freshman guard, matched her season-best with 23 points Saturday while grabbing nine rebounds and handing out three assists. Alivia Sidley (Thompson, Ohio/Ledgemont), another freshman guard, scored a season-high 18 points.
 
Thiel senior forward Jaclyn Watkins (Aliquippa, Pa./Aliquippa) recorded her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Watkins moved into seventh place on Thiel's career points list Saturday, surpassing Tammy Willrich, who amassed 1,132 points. To date, Watkins has scored 1,139 points.
 
Heidi Mann led Geneva with 21 points while Miranda Heaney and Callie Ford scored 16 points apiece.
 
The Tomcats will be back in action Wednesday when they take on the Washington & Jefferson Presidents on the road. The PAC game is slated to begin at 6 p.m.