Goshen, IN — It wasn’t quite New Year’s Eve, but the party at the Roman Gingerich Center was fit for the occasion both Thursday and Friday nights.

Just 24 hours after knocking off Siena Heights by a 55-54 score (click here for recap), the Goshen College women’s basketball was at it again Friday night, handing Tri-State University a 55-52 loss in the squad’s final contest of 2005. After riding an injury-plagued 14-game losing skid that spanned nearly two months, the Leafs now have their first winning streak of the season in place, all on the eve of resuming Mid-Central Conference play next week. For head coach Steve Wiktorowski, it may have been just what his program needed.

“I was really proud of how we persevered in a tight game after having won a tough game less than 24 hours before,” Wiktorowski said. “For the second time in two days we made enough plays down the stretch to win a physical game that could have gone either way. One of our pregame keys was to make good decisions with the ball after winning last night despite 29 turnovers. This was the first game of the year where we ended up with more assists (17) than turnovers (13). If we can continue that trend, this young team will continue to make a lot of progress.”

Points were hard to come by in the early stages of Friday night’s contest, as the Thunder crawled out to a 20-14 lead after 15 minutes had elapsed in the first half. And while neither team was able to blister the nets in the first period — Goshen connected on nine of 28 shots (32.1 percent) while Tri-State hit on eight of 26 (30.8 percent) — it was the Leafs that saved their best for last, knocking in three of their last five shots that helped spur a seven to nothing run before halftime. Tri-State needed a last-second lay-up by hometown product Shanna Hoogenboom to reclaim the lead heading into the locker room, 22-21.

In the second half the shooting began to heat up — Goshen made 43.3 percent of its tries from the field and Tri-State 40 percent — along with the importance of each possession. A see-saw battle gave way to four ties and 10 lead changes in the game’s final 20 minutes, with each team having multiple opportunities to put the other away. Tri-State claimed its largest lead of the second half at the 15:40 mark, when a three-pointer made it a 32-28 contest. Goshen responded with a nine to nothing run in the game’s next two and a half minutes, claiming a 37-32 lead with 13:10 remaining.

After a converted three-point play by the Thunder made it a 37-35 game with 12:39 on the clock, the scoring became stagnant. Both teams combined to miss the next 11 shots from the field, keeping the scoreboard at 37-35 for nearly two and a half minutes. A made free throw by Kelsy McKee broke the drought, while a three-pointer by McKee on the ensuing possession gave Goshen its largest lead — a 41-35 advantage — with 9:31 to play.

Tri-State responded with a three-ball of its own, and again was able to cut the lead to a single point. Again Goshen responded with back to back buckets to make it a 45-40 Leafs’ lead with just under seven minutes to play.

Big plays from both teams keyed the final four minutes of action, as Tri-State recaptured a 48-47 lead with just 3:23 to play. A driving basket from sophomore Jess Buller put Goshen back on top, but Tri-State was able to convert a pair of free throws on its next trip to reclaim a one-point lead with 2:20 remaining.

Freshman Troyanna Scott’s layup with 2:05 to play would erase Tri-State’s lead permanently.

Following a missed front end one-and-one opportunity by the Thunder, McKee was able to sneak inside for a layup, giving Goshen a 53-50 lead with 1:19 to play. Tri-State again cut the lead to one point with a pair of free throws on its next possession, but Goshen was able to persevere despite missing three of its final five free throws in a lead-protecting situation: After McKee knocked in the second of two free throws with four seconds remaining on the clock, Hoogenboom’s three-pointer from 40 feet bounced just off the back rim as time expired.

“We need to do a better job of hitting late free throws so we don’t give our opponents a chance to win or tie, but I felt that we took good care of the ball in the second half and kept them to one outside shot most possessions,” Wiktorowski said. “I thought we took too many jump shots in the first half, but then started to get the ball inside better in the second half and that helped raise our shooting percentage over 10 points.”

McKee shared game-high scoring honors charting 19 points on six of 10 shooting, grabbing a team-high seven rebounds as well. Scott was marvelous off the bench, scoring a career-high 12 points on six of nine shooting to complement seven boards as well. Sophomore Carly Feldman was also a force inside, knocking in 10 points to go with six rebounds. Goshen outrebounded Tri-State by a 35 to 32 count and held an 11 to seven advantage on offensive boards. Feldman secured six and Scott three of those second-chance opportunities.

“Carly and Troy gave us a very strong inside presence offensively, defensively and on the boards,” Wiktorowski said. “McKee shot the ball well for the second straight game. (Sophomore Sarah) Arnold ran the offense well (eight assists to four turnovers) and Buller gave us great leadership.”

Goshen will look to keep its streak alive on Wednesday, when arch rival Bethel College will visit the Roman Gingerich Center for an MCC affair. Game time is set for 7 p.m.