Greives Sets Rebounding Mark In Overtime Thriller
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GOSHEN, Ind. (Box Score) - Senior Cassie Greives set a new Goshen College career rebounding record and classmate Erica Yost posted a new career high in scoring, but it was not quite enough as the Maple Leafs lost a hard-fought match up with visiting Grace College 78-77 in overtime Thursday night.
"This was a great game where two teams played their hearts out all night and it came down to the very end," head coach Steve Wiktorowski said. "I was really proud how many times we answered the bell tonight and hit big shots when we needed them. The stats were incredibly similar and it was a shame someone had to lose."
For Greives, her record-setting rebound came less than five minutes into the second half and helped spark Goshen's run. Ending with 13 on the night, the Rochester (Ind.) native now has 928 on her career, breaking the mark of 1988 graduate Dawn Gerber (923).
After trailing by as many as 10 late in the first half, the Maple Leafs came on the comeback trail. Including the last 1:35 of the first half, they went on a 14-1 run and took a 39-36 lead after Lindsay Gangloff converted a 3-pointer off Greives historic rebound on the offensive glass.
Outside of that, Yost put on the offensive display of the evening. She hit 11-of-15 from the field, 3-of-4 from long range, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line for a new career high 31 points. Another senior, Lindsay Gangloff registered 13 second-half points (17 total) in the game, which featured a total of 13 ties and 14 lead changes.
"Erica had a great offensive night and shot the ball well from the perimeter along with making some tough shots inside," Wiktorowski continued. "Gangloff bounced back from a tough game Tuesday night and gave us some good perimeter shooting."
In overtime, both sides were hitting big-time outside shots as they tried to get an advantage. Grace eventually grabbed their final lead on a putback from Kierra Gray with 12 seconds remaining. Junior Kari Heusinkveld got to the line with just one second remaining before the Leafs fell just short of their first Mid-Central College Conference win of the season.
Goshen finished the evening hitting 48% from the field, including 8-of-15 (53%) from 3-point territory. The similar numbers Wiktorowski referred to included rebounds (36-36), turnovers (18-20), assists (16-13), and steals (8-9).
The Maple Leafs (4-14, 0-4 MCC) are now set to travel to the University of Saint Francis (14-4, 3-1) Saturday afternoon.
"Sam Hawk just continues to improve on both ends of the floor," Wiktorowski said. "Erica Emanuel played well the second half, and Kari Heusinkveld and Jenna Rusmisel gave us huge lifts off the bench. We are getting healthier and improving, so hopefully we can continue to compete like this."