PITTSBURGH – Chatham Women's Basketball (8-4, 6-2 PAC) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Geneva Golden Tornadoes (7-7, 4-5) in dominant fashion, 78-44.
 
Madison Nereu and Alyssa Laukus were Chatham's top scorers, each netting 13 points. Charjae Brock and Ashlie Louden each put up 11 points and had 5 steals. Brock also pulled down 7 boards and dished out a game-high 7 assists. Kendall Haymore also grabbed 7 rebounds for the Cougars, and Hannah Chenault scored 9 points with 3 takeaways.
 
Nereu scored 6 of Chatham's first 16 points to give the Cougars a 16-6 lead six minutes into the game. Chatham closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run to reach a 24-8 advantage heading into the second frame. Chatham then extended that run to 23-2 as the netted the first 10 points of the second quarter, and five points at the end of the first half from Alyssa Laukus pushed the Cougars to a 47-19 advantage at the break.
 
Geneva closed the gap to 27 points in the third quarter, but that was as far as their comeback attempt would take them. A 9-0 Chatham run in the fourth quarter aided by a couple Samantha Hardy baskets improved the final scoreline for the Cougars.
 
Anna Ulmer was the Golden Tornadoes' top scorer with 14 points on 6-7 shooting and top rebounder with 7. Alexandra Cozzens scored 8 points for Geneva and grabbed 6 boards. Emily Garvin had 7 points, 3 steals and led the Golden Tornadoes with 2 assists.
 
The Cougars will be back in action on Monday when they will travel to Greenville, Pa. to take on Thiel College at 5:30 p.m.