Box Score WILMINGTON, Ohio – The season opener for Whitman College's seventh-ranked women's basketball program went along as planned, just not all the way to the final buzzer as the Missionaries dropped a 64-52 decision to the State University of New York at Geneseo after seeing the scoreboard show a tie score with five minutes remaining in the late game of the first day of the Damon's/Hampton Inn Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Wilmington College.

The season opener for Whitman (0-1) and the Knights (1-0) had seven ties and nine lead changes but Geneseo's acumen at the free throw line down the stretch extended a five-point advantage into the game's final 12-point difference.

Alysse Ketner drained a pair of free throws with 6:31 remaining to pull Whitman even at 47-47. Each team would miss a shot and suffer a turnover during the next four possessions until Shannon McGinnis hit a jumper at the 4:49 mark to push her Knights ahead by two. The Missionaries had three cracks at the basket on the ensuing possession but came up empty allowing Geneseo to stretch the lead with a McGinnis three-pointer nearing the four-minute mark.

That basket would prove to be the last from the field for the Knights who -- with Whitman trying to save time by fouling -- hit 12-of-16 from the charity stripe over the final four minutes to finish on a 15-5 run to put the game out of reach.

Whitman opened the contest with a Hallie Buse trey then maintained a lead until the Knights slipped in front, on a pair of free throws, at the 13:13 mark of the first. The teams would exchange the lead five times and settle for tie scores four more instances as the half edged toward the intermission. A pair of Allison McKenna free throws with one second remaining allowed Geneseo to scratch out a 28-27 lead entering the break.

The Knights held off Whitman in the early minutes of second-half action but a Casey Poe layup at 15:04 pushed Whitman back in front, 33-32. There would be four lead changes and two ties over the next 10 minutes until Ketner's foul shots tied it for the final time at 47-47.

Ketner came off the bench and finished with 10 points to lead Whitman in scoring. She added three rebounds to Hailey Ann Maeda's team-high seven to help the Missionaries establish a 47-30 advantage on the glass. Heather Johns chipped in with nine points, five rebounds, a pair of assists and two steals in the loss.

McGinnis posted a game-high 18 points for Geneseo which also saw Dana Cohan, with 17, and McKenna, with 11, reach double-digits in scoring. McKenna pulled down a game-best nine rebounds in the win, and Cohan was nearly perfect, at 9-for-10, from the foul line.

The Missionaries will take on Eastern Mennonite (Va.) University Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. PT in the Tip-Off Tournament's consolation bracket. The Royals suffered a 74-55 loss to the host Fightin' Quakers in Saturday's opening game.