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NOV.
11 — Leafs Come Back To Down Illinois Tech, 66-50
Squad
withstands turnovers with hot shooting to improve to 2-1 on season |
Goshen,
IN — It wasn’t the prettiest win in recent memory
for the Goshen College women’s basketball team, but aesthetics
don’t count for points as the Leafs came back to defeat
Illinois Tech 66-50 in the Roman Gingerich Center Thursday night.
Goshen (2-1, 0-0) overcame a season-high 26 turnovers by shooting 26 for 53 from
the field (49.1 percent) and eight of 16 from three-point land (50 percent) to
beat the Scarlet Hawks, holding the visitors to just 18 second-half points after
trailing 32-28 at the half.
“I thought we got off to a good start offensively tonight, but then didn’t
finish very strong because of turnovers,” said Steve Wiktorowski, Goshen
head coach. “The second half we really picked up our defense by preventing
penetration and keeping them to one shot with good rebounding. The second half
was probably the most consistent offense we’ve had this year, and we were
able to come back from the halftime deficit.”
Wiktorowski’s team began the night in strong fashion against the athletic
Illinois Tech team, holding a 23-17 lead at the 8:53 mark in the first half.
The Scarlet Hawks then put together a 15 to five run to end the period, however,
in claiming a 32-28 lead at the intermission despite shooting just 13 of 33 from
the floor (39.4 percent).
It was Goshen that turned up the defensive intensity in the second half, though,
as the Leafs raced out to a 35-34 lead just two minutes into the period. They
would never trail again. Wiktorowski’s team slowly pushed its lead to 13
points with just over five minutes to play, eventually taking a 66-48 advantage
at the 2:10 mark. Illinois Tech was able to add only two more points to its total
in that final span, as Goshen held the visitors to just an eight for 26 shooting
effort (30.8 percent) in the final stanza.
For the night, Goshen outrebounded Illinois Tech by a 28 to 18 margin and buried
15 of 27 shots (55.6 percent) in the final half. The Leafs also forced the Scarlet
Hawks into 20 turnovers of their own, further nullifying Goshen’s poor
night of ballhandling.
Freshman Kelsy McKee led all scorers with a career-high 17 points on six of 11
shooting. Senior Kortney Hanson dropped 15 points to go with a game-high seven
rebounds while going three for three from downtown. Classmate Erin McDugle chipped
in 11 points, while sophomore Danielle Haney provided nine and senior Candice
Williams eight. Williams also recorded a game-high six assists.
“I thought Kelsy McKee did a nice job of being ready to shoot on the outside
and posted up well,” Wiktorowski said. “Kortney Hanson hit some big
three point shots when we really needed them. (Junior) Ashley Woodlee and (sophomore)
Ashley Hegerfeld made big contributions off the bench. Our offense is improving,
and if we can cut down our turnovers and play better in the first half, I think
we can be very competitive.”
Goshen will play its third game at the Roman Gingerich Center in five days, as
the team will host Indiana University South Bend on Saturday. Game time is set
for 1 p.m. |
  Senior
Kortney Hanson
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