BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team used smothering defense to pick up a 67-59 victory over Geneva, its first PAC win of the 2018-19 season, on Saturday, Dec. 1. 

With the triumph, W&J improves to 3-5 on the season and it evens out its PAC record at 1-1. The Golden Tornadoes, however, fall to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in league action. 

The story of today's game was the Presidents' defensive performance. W&J allowed Geneva to score a combined 15 points in the first half, which included a three-point second quarter. In the second, the Golden Tornadoes shot 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) from the floor. This lockdown defense allowed the Red & Black to take a 33-15 lead into the halftime break. 

This strong defensive play continued for much of the game, as the Red & Black forced a season-best 25 turnovers, logged a season-high 13 steals and held Geneva to a .411 field-goal percentage (23-of-56). W&J, on the other hand, committed just 13 turnovers and maintained a .467 field-goal percentage.  

Geneva made things interesting in the fourth quarter, tying the score at 54-54 at the 4:16 mark of the fourth with a 19-4 run. The Presidents did not let this run deter them, however, as they ended the game on a 13-5 run of their own to secure the win. Kylie McKennen (Triadelphia, W. Va./Wheeling Park) led W&J in the game-saving run with five points on a layup and three free throws. 

For the contest, Danielle Parker (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) paced the Red & Black with 19 points on 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) shooting from the floor. Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) rounded out the Presidents' double-digit scorers with 16 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. 

The Red & Black also got stellar performances out of their underclassmen. Freshmen Izzy Allen (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and McKennen finished the game with eight and seven points, respectively. Allen also recorded three rebounds and two steals, while McKennen added three steals, two rebounds and two assists. 

The Presidents continue PAC play with a 6 p.m. road matchup against Chatham on Wednesday, Dec. 5, in Pittsburgh, Pa.