Goshen, IN — With less than 24 hours remaining before the Goshen College women’s basketball team boarded a flight for a week-long stay in Florida, it could be expected that the team’s collective thoughts were on sunny skies and warm temperatures Tuesday evening.

The final score posted on the Roman Gingerich Center scoreboard sent a chilling blast back to reality.

After recovering from a sloppily played first half to take a late lead against visiting Spalding University, Goshen (1-12, 0-4) watched it all unravel in the game’s final seconds, dropping a heartbreaking 50-51 loss to the visiting Lady Pelicans Tuesday night. The Leafs’ 50-46 lead with just under six minutes to play would not hold up, as Goshen was outscored five to nothing in that span to drop what easily could be classified as the team’s toughest defeat to date.

“This was another tough setback for us,” said Steve Wiktorowski, Goshen head coach. “I thought our team did a lot of positive things to put themselves in a position to win, but couldn’t make the plays at the end. I was especially happy with our second-half defense, but rebounding and offensive second chances really hurt us. We are not shooting as well as we can, so our margin for error is small.”

Those shooting difficulties led to a 23-29 deficit at halftime, as Goshen could convert on just nine of 26 first-half field goal attempts (34.6 percent). Spalding, meanwhile, converted on 11 of 27 first-half tries (40.7 percent) and was spearheaded by the play of Courtney Cravens, who knocked in all six of her first-half three-point attempts en route to scoring 20 of her team’s points. Wiktorowski’s squad held as much as a six-point lead in the first period (15-9 at the 10:52 mark), but a pair of treys by Cravens in the half’s final two minutes gave Spalding a six-point advantage, the Lady Pelicans’ largest lead of the night.

With a focus on Cravens in the second half, Goshen’s defense began to stiffen. A three-ball by sophomore Kelsy McKee opened the stanza, setting the stage for a neck and neck battle all the way down to the wire. Neither team would lead by more than four points for the remainder of the contest, as the game was tied on 11 occasions.

Defensive effort on both ends became the staple of the game, as scoring began to dwindle down the stretch. A pair of free throws by freshman Rachel Canen at the 7:18 mark gave Goshen a 46-44 lead, while neither team would score again until the 6:36 mark. It was at that point that sophomore Jess Buller knocked in one of two free throw tosses, making it a 47-44 Leafs’ advantage. Spalding was able to score on a layup on its next possession, but Canen came up big again on Goshen’s next play, drilling a three pointer to make it 50-46, Goshen, with 5:59 to play.

It would be Goshen’s last points of the game.

A Spalding jumper at the 5:08 mark tightened the gap to 50-48, while a pair of Lady Pelican front-end free throw makes tied the game at 50-50 with 3:53 remaining. From there it became a game of attrition, with neither team able to capitalize for points until only the final seconds remained.

After a pair of missed Spalding free throws with just over 20 seconds remaining, Goshen was able to secure a team rebound. Wiktorowski called for a timeout, setting up what apparently would be the Leafs’ final chance to grab the win and avoid overtime.

Canen was freed up for a good look at a three pointer on the ensuing play, but her shot was long with 12 seconds remaining on the clock. Following a Spalding rebound, a Goshen foul was called with just over seven seconds remaining. Spalding’s Amy Etherton was able to make the first but missed the second, and freshman Kendra Fights called an immediate timeout upon securing the rebound.

Again, Goshen would have a chance to win.

Junior Danielle Haney was called upon to trigger a length of the floor pass following the Leafs’ timeout, but Spalding was there to deflect the ball and pick up the change. As the Lady Pelicans advanced the ball back down the floor, it was Buller who came up with one final, heroic effort, stealing the ball away at midcourt and calling a timeout while falling to the ground.

Only five-tenths of a second remained.

Wiktorowski, now staring at a heartbreaking defeat, would have one final chance to come up with a miracle play.

It nearly worked.

Wiktorowski drew up a set that freed McKee for a jumper on the wing, but McKee could not get the shot off in time. Officials frantically waved off McKee’s game winning jump shot as it trickled through the net, buzzer sounding.

“This young team is clearly improving and I am really proud of how hard they play despite struggling to get wins lately,” Wiktorowski said. “This one was tough, but we’ve got to keep moving forward.”

Canen led Goshen with 15 points on four of 12 shooting. Buller scored 12 while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Carly Feldman scored nine points, while Fights added five points and four boards. Sophomore Sarah Arnold scored just two points, but dished out a season-high eight assists before fouling out.

Goshen improved to shoot 30.8 percent from the floor in the second half (eight for 26) while stepping up its defense to keep Spalding to just a seven for 30 second-period performance (23.3 percent), including holding Cravens to just three second-half points. The teams shared turnover problems — both had 25 — but rebounding was the key for Spalding’s win. The Lady Pelicans outboarded Goshen by a 46 to 31 count, with a 20 to 10 advantage on the offensive end.

“When an opponent really dominates an area like rebounding, it is hard right now for us to make it up in another area besides shooting,” Wiktorowski said. “Still, I was really pleased with a variety of players’ efforts. I thought that Buller played extremely well, and most importantly displayed a lot of leadership for our young team in a pressure situation. I also felt that Canen hit some big shots in the second half, especially from three. Sarah Arnold probably had her best game of the year in that she was very aggressive, pushed the ball up the floor on offense and played great help side defense on the other end. Carly Feldman continues to show improvement and worked hard to use her athleticism on both ends of the floor.”

Goshen will next pack up for its trip to the Warner Southern College Christmas Tournament in Lake Wales, Florida, with the team facing the host school Friday at 12 p.m. in the tournament opener. The Leafs will then play either Tennessee Wesleyan College or St. Petersburg College on Saturday at 12 p.m., depending the outcomes of Friday’s games. For up to date information on the tournament, click here. Results will be posted on this website shortly after the conclusion of the tournament.