Goshen, IN — With just 98 seconds elapsed in Saturday’s Mid-Central Conference women’s basketball match-up between the visiting Bethel College Pilots and the Goshen College Maple Leafs, the Pilots’ Abby Noll had already scored two three-point field goals.

Unfortunately for the Leafs, it was a sign of things to come.

Noll went on to bury seven of nine from deep in the game’s initial 20 minutes, helping Bethel to a 42-24 halftime lead that would not be erased. For the game, the Pilots converted on 15 of 28 from beyond the arc (53.6 percent), the most treys a Goshen team has given up in the three-year tenure of head coach Steve Wiktorowski. Goshen (11-17, 3-10) went on to lose the game by a 59-81 score.

“Three-point shooting was obviously the story of this game, especially Abby Noll in the first half,” Wiktorowski said. “It was very frustrating in that we talked a lot about keeping track of her and yet she scored 21 first-half points, all on threes. They finished the game shooting really well from the arc, and it’s tough to win a game where your opponent does that.”

To the Leafs’ credit, Noll did not make another three-pointer in the second half of play, but the damage had been done. Bethel raced off to a 14-2 advantage in the game’s first four and a half minutes of play, setting the tone and tempo for the game. Goshen pulled within seven points (12-19) with 11:40 to play in the first period, but a six to nothing Bethel run over the game’s next two minutes put the Pilots back in the driver’s seat with a 25-12 advantage. Noll then finished the first half in the same way she started it, burying a three with 38 seconds remaining to give the Pilots an 18-point cushion at the intermission.

Despite Bethel’s amazing attack from the perimeter in the first half (10 of 17, 58.8 percent), Goshen did not give up. After the Pilots increased their lead to the largest margin of 23 points at the 18:58 mark (a 47-24 lead), the Leafs slowly staged a comeback. Over the following 10 minutes, Wiktorowski’s team scored 26 of the game’s next 38 points, pulling to a 50-59 score with 8:35 to play. A 10 to two Pilot run quickly doused any Goshen hope of a complete comeback, as Bethel kept no smaller than a 16-point lead for the remainder of the game.

Take away the three-point line, and Bethel connected on just 14 of 30 shots (46.7 percent) and just eight of 10 free throws. Conversely, the Leafs buried 21 of 26 free throws (80.8 percent), but could only manage a 17 for 49 effort from the field (34.7 percent) and a four for 18 performance from the three-point line (22.2 percent). Making matters worse for Wiktorowski’s team was a six for 24 performance from the floor in the first half (25 percent), helping the Pilots to a comfortable halftime cushion.

“I think there is a big difference between playing well and shooting well,” Wiktorowski said. “I didn’t think we played poorly. Our zones were good, we outrebounded them (29 to 27 count) and our turnovers (16) weren’t bad against their pressure. Your offense just has to be very good when the other team hits 15 threes and shoots 50 percent overall. We made a good run in the second half and began to control the flow of the game, but we couldn’t sustain it all the way to the finish. When we got the lead under 10 late and had momentum building, we missed a couple easy shots off steals and forced a couple shots inside. They converted on their end and controlled the game from that point on.”

Goshen was led by senior Candice Williams’ 23 points on eight of 16 shooting. Classmate Erin McDugle finished with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds, while freshman Kelsy McKee provided 12 points on a three for seven shooting performance.

The Leafs will next travel to Huntington College on Wednesday evening, as the Mid-Central Conference schedule enters its final two weeks of regular-season play. Game time is set for 7 p.m.