GENESEO, N.Y. – SUNY Geneseo senior forward Shannon McGinnis scored 27 points, tied for second-most in Geneseo NCAA Tournament history, and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Knights past visiting Castleton, 84-40, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament, Friday night.

Geneseo (24-4) advances to the second round and will play Muhlenberg Saturday at 7 p.m. in Schrader Gymnasium. The Mules (21-7) overcame a 12-point second half deficit to defeat No. 19 Cabrini, 60-57, in the first game of the evening. Muhlenberg last played in the second round in 2012, falling to Mount Union, 61-55.

Junior forward Allison McKenna had 14 points and nine rebounds while senior center Katie Peterson totaled 14 points and junior guard Dana Cohan added 10 points and four assists in the victory.

At the 17:36 mark, McGinnis hit a shot from long range to give the hosts an early 10-3 advantage. After two free-throws from Castleton senior guard Jade Desroches to make it 12-7 at 15:05, the Knights went on a 15-0 run to open a 27-7 advantage with 6:26 on the clock. The run was capped by a Cohan jump shot.

At 4:18, McGinnis completed a three-point play to put Geneseo up by 23, 32-9. A Cohan three-pointer and a jumper by sophomore guard Kara Houppert in the final minute of play gave Geneseo a 44-15 lead at the break. McGinnis and McKenna were the only two scorers for the Knights through the first 11 minutes of play and entered halftime with 18 and 10 points, respectively. The team shot 59.3 percent from the field in the first half while holding the Spartans to just 18.8 percent shooting.

With 18:15 on the clock, McKenna made a shot from beyond the arc to make it 49-18. Just over four minutes later, McGinnis hit two free-throws to put Geneseo up, 58-25. With 2:38 remaining in the game, two free-throws from sophomore guard Kayleigh Cavanaugh extended the Knight's lead to 40, 78-38, as the team led by as many 46 en route to its 18th-straight victory.