Upland, IN — A solid beginning at Mid-Central Conference rival Taylor University could not sustain the Goshen College women’s basketball team through 40 minutes, as the Leafs dropped a 49-70 decision to the host Trojans Wednesday night in Upland.

Goshen (4-16, 1-6) took early command of the game with a 15-7 lead just five minutes in, but Taylor’s defensive pressure began to turn the tide. A 31 to 10 Taylor run to close the first half put the Trojans up 38-25 at the half, while the Leafs would never get closer than 11 points the remainder of the way.

“We got off to a good start, shot well and had the lead,” said Steve Wiktorowski, Goshen head coach. “We even forced them to take the first time out. However, we then began to have problems with their press, didn’t get good shots and had four regulars on the bench at the end of the half because of foul trouble. We handled their pressure better in the second half, but couldn’t take advantage of their rough start because of our own poor shooting. Their guards then started hitting from outside and ours never really got untracked.”

The Leafs’ solid start to the contest came via scoring from every angle, as Wiktorowski’s team knocked in its first two three-point attempts as well as scoring four baskets inside for the early 15-7 lead. It was at that point that Goshen’s scoring surge ceased, as Taylor knocked in the game’s next nine points to grab a 16-15 lead at the 11:59 mark. A layup by senior Jenn Rupp on Goshen’s next possession recaptured a one-point lead for the Leafs, but Taylor closed the half with a 22 to eight run from that point en route to a 13-point halftime advantage.

Despite being saddled with two fouls each at the intermission, sophomores Carly Feldman and Kelsy McKee did their best to get Goshen back into the contest at the outset of the second period. A layup by Feldman started the half, followed by an inside bucket by McKee. Unfortunately for Goshen, those baskets were sandwiched around two Taylor field goals, disabling the Leafs from cutting the lead to fewer than 11 points. The Trojans put together a nine to two run following McKee’s bucket, taking a 51-33 lead with 14:33 remaining.

Taylor would go on to lead by as many as 28 points down the stretch, but a nine to two Leafs’ run to close the game narrowed the gap to the final 21-point margin.

The story of the game was Taylor’s defense converting Goshen errors into points, as the Trojans scored 26 points off of 20 Goshen turnovers. Conversely, Goshen scored just four points off of 10 Trojan errors. Goshen controlled the rebound category, outboarding the hosts by a 39 to 29 count that included a 12 to seven advantage on the offensive glass. Taylor was more effective shooting from both the field and the free throw line however, as the Trojans knocked in 25 of 58 attempts from the field (43.1 percent) and 17 of 18 from the line (94.4 percent). Wiktorowski’s team made just 16 of 47 field goal tries (34 percent) and 14 of 19 from the charity stripe (73.7 percent).

Feldman led the way with an impressive performance, scoring 11 points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds in just over 21 minutes of work. McKee charted eight points and five rebounds, while Rupp scored seven. Junior Danielle Haney was the next highest scorer in the loss, scoring six points and grabbing five caroms.

“I felt that (sophomore) Sarah Arnold (two points, five assists) bounced back from a tough game at Huntington and was one of the bright spots for us in trying to deal with their pressure,” Wiktorowski said. “We had to take her out (in the second half) because of a bruised hip which hurt us. Feldman did some good things inside and almost had a double-double. McKee had a solid game and (sophomore) Carrie Brinks came off the bench late and made a nice contribution. I was happy with how hard we competed tonight after not competing well at Huntington, which was evidenced by our control of the boards tonight. Now we are back home for three straight games and hopefully we can get our offense producing better like it was before we went on the road.”

Arnold’s hip injury is said to be mild to moderate in nature, and she should be back in uniform for Goshen’s next contest. The Leafs will welcome the first round MCC bye on Saturday, and will face non-conference opponent Taylor University-Fort Wayne in the Roman Gingerich Center at 12 p.m. That contest will be followed by a men’s game against Indiana University-Northwest at 3 p.m. Both games will be carried live via 91.1 FM, The Globe.