PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Feb. 24, 2020 - The Cougars (14-10, 7-9) were back on their home court Monday, February 24th as they faced off against the Golden Tornadoes of Geneva (3-20, 2-14) in the opening round of the PAC playoffs. Chatham recently wrapped up their regular season play with a road loss to Saint Vincent on Saturday, February 22nd by a final of 97-87.

The two opponents traded baskets within the first few minutes of the opening quarter, with Chatham taking an early 6-3 lead. Geneva would fight their way back into the game, taking a three point lead after Emily Melnek's three made it 14-11. After both teams had their share of the lead, the Golden Tornadoes found themselves on top of the Cougars 22-19 going into the second.

Geneva continued to extend their lead, building it to as many as seven in the second quarter giving them a 31-24 edge over Chatham. The Cougars began to inch their way back into the game, cutting their deficit to two after graduate student Emily Ondo hit a jump shot with 5:09 left in the half. Minutes later, sophomore Katie Fertig would drill a three to tie the score at 32-32 with three minutes remaining until the break. Chatham eventually regained the lead before the half, giving themselves a 42-34 advantage going into the second half.

The Golden Tornadoes came out swinging to start the second half, going on a 6-0 run to pull within two of Chatham. The Cougars would answer with a run of their own to stretch their lead to as many as 11 in the quarter. They would hold a 58-50 lead over Geneva going into the final quarter of the match.

Things would get interesting in the fourth quarter, as the Golden Tornadoes would cut Chatham's lead to three with under three minutes to play after a pair of free throws by Emily Melnek. The Cougars held on to the lead for the rest of the fourth, coming out on top 69-63 over the Golden Tornadoes to give themselves a first round win in the playoffs.

Ondo finished with a team high 21 points to go along with a career high 20 rebounds for her 14th double double of the season. Fertig pitched in 20 points herself while first year Riley D'Angelo added 12 points herself.

Chatham is back crashing the boards Wednesday, February 26th as they will travel to 4th seeded Washington and Jefferson to take on the Presidents' in the semifinals of the PAC playoffs.