Mishawaka, IN — The game of basketball was invented under the pretense that whichever team made more baskets than the other would be declared the winner. Nothing was ever written about both teams getting an equal opportunity, however.

The Goshen women’s basketball team realized this fact in full effect Wednesday night at the Wiekamp Center, as the host Bethel College Pilots attempted 42 more shots from the field in an 81-47 win over the Leafs. Goshen (8-11, 1-4) committed 25 turnovers and gave up 18 offensive boards to the Pilots, thus throwing shooting percentages out the window. Goshen’s 12 for 32 effort from the field (37.5 percent) didn’t make much of a difference considering that Bethel was able to fire off a total 74 shots on the night, making 35 of them (47.3 percent) in the lopsided win.

“Turnovers and possessions, along with rebounding, was the big story of this game,” said Steve Wiktorowski, Goshen head coach. “Overall, we didn’t do a bad job of shooting from the floor, but we gave them so many extra possessions that it didn’t matter. Our defense wasn’t that bad and we did fairly well against their press. I think we just wanted to do so well and get back in the conference race so much that we really had difficulty relaxing and playing on their tough home floor.”

That difficulty was evident from the game’s outset for the Leafs, as Goshen committed four turnovers and missed its first three shots from the floor in the contest’s first five minutes. Still, solid defensive play limited Bethel to just a two for five effort from the field and three turnovers in that same time, and the Pilots could only claim a 4-0 advantage. Slowly, however, Bethel built its lead. Goshen could score just nine points over the game’s first 13 minutes, while the Pilots became more efficient. With 6:45 remaining in the half Bethel led 23-9, and increased its advantage to 32-13 with 2:38 to play. Goshen was able to cut the lead to 33-18 at the half behind a Carly Feldman (freshman) lay up and an Erin McDugle (senior) three, but the trend had been set: Bethel had already taken 16 more shots than the Leafs, while Goshen committed 14 first-half giveaways.

“Except for (senior) Kortney Hanson, our guards really had difficulty handling the ball or scoring,” Wiktorowski said. “That made it tough for us to get in any kind of flow offensively.”

Goshen opened the second period with senior Candice Williams draining a three, but the 21-32 deficit was as close as the Leafs would get. Bethel responded with a seven to one run over the game’s next two minutes, and Goshen would get no closer than 16 points the remainder of the way. The Pilots went on to connect 21 of 41 second-half attempts (51.2 percent), helping keep the game at a more than safe distance from the Leafs.

Goshen was led by McDugle’s 18 points on six of nine shooting from the floor, while Feldman chipped in nine points and a team-high six rebounds. Williams finished with seven points, while Hanson tallied three points and four assists, turning the ball over just twice in 30 minutes of play. Goshen was able to get to the free throw line 35 times compared to Bethel’s seven charity attempts, but only made 21 of them (60 percent).

“I thought Carly Feldman showed some good carryover from what she has worked on in practice,” Wiktorowski said. “Erin McDugle shot the ball well despite fighting through stomach problems again. For a freshman, I thought Kelsy McKee played pretty good defense on Chasity Zellers, who is one of the best guards in the conference. These girls have shown a tremendous attitude and work ethic, and are determined to keep battling until we can play more like we want to play. There is still a long way to go until the conference tournament and we have a lot of young players who will improve a great deal with more conference play.”

Goshen will return to the friendly confines of the Roman Gingerich Center this Saturday, when the team will host MCC foe Huntington College. Game time is set for 1 p.m.