Goshen, IN — With the Goshen College women’s basketball team at far less than full strength, the ninth-ranked University of St. Francis Cougars cruised past the Leafs at the Roman Gingerich Center Saturday afternoon by a score of 69-50. Head coach Steve Wiktorowski was forced to patch together combinations due to two players suffering from the flu and another — rising freshman post Troyanna Scott — who suffered a quadriceps injury prior to tip off.

With those factors taken into consideration, Wiktorowski said he was happy with the effort and toughness his shorthanded team displayed in the Mid-Central Conference loss.

“I was really proud of our effort today for 40 minutes,” Wiktorowski said. “We had two players battling the flue and another who was injured before the game. Yet, we competed well overall with the most talented team in the conference.”

St. Francis hit a remarkable 14 of 23 three-point tries for the game (60.9 percent), though Goshen (5-18, 1-8) hung tough for the majority of the game’s first 20 minutes. Neither team was able to crack the scoring column until nearly four minutes had elapsed, with Goshen claiming an 8-7 lead with 10:03 remaining in the first period. The Cougars then began to heat up, however, putting together an 18 to seven run to close the half in taking a 25-15 lead at the break.

With scoring difficult for both teams — Goshen shot seven of 23 from the field in the first half (30.4 percent) and St. Francis nine for 29 (31 percent) — the Cougars started to take shots from further out on the floor.

They hit them with incredible accuracy.

A 31 to 15 St. Francis run to open the second half was sparked by a seven for eight effort from behind the three-point arc, as the Cougars opened a 26-point lead (56-30) with 9:02 remaining in the contest. And while USF’s rate of threes lessened from that point, its accuracy did not: St. Francis hit a total nine of 11 from behind the arc in the second half (81.8 percent), hitting better from there than from the free throw line (nine of 14, 64.3 percent).

“We did some good things against them defensively and outrebounded them, but ultimately their three-point shooting was too much against our zones,” Wiktorowski said. “We had too many scoring droughts that our defense couldn’t get us through.”

Goshen could get no closer than 18 points for the remainder of the contest, as the Leafs went on to shoot just 39.1 percent for the game (18 for 46) and just 25 percent from three-point land (three of 12).

Sophomore center Carly Feldman did her best to keep the Leafs in it, scoring a career-high 22 points — 18 of which came in the second half — on eight of 13 shooting. Classmate Kelsy McKee scored 10 to go with a game-high 10 rebounds, while junior Danielle Haney notched six points and five boards. Freshmen Rachel Canen and Kendra Fights were only able to combine for five points in a combined 36 minutes of work, as both played through flu-like symptoms.

Perhaps most worrisome to Wiktorowski and staff was the injury suffered by Scott, as the recent scoring threat suffered a strained right lower quad during warm ups before the game. Goshen head athletic trainer Linda Kaminskis reported that Scott could be available for the Leafs’ next contest, but for now is listed as doubtful.

“Being short-handed, I felt we wore down against their pressure defense and were unable to produce much scoring outside of Feldman and McKee,” Wiktorowski said. “I thought that Feldman really showed her potential today offensively, and did a good job of avoiding foul trouble against their posts because Troyanna Scott was injured and couldn’t back her up. McKee played with great awareness on both ends and showed the type of complete player she can be when she is focused and aggressive. (Sophomore Jess) Buller played her second nice floor game and protected the ball. Haney also came in and gave us some rebounding and a few points. Our goal now is to continue to play on a consistent basis the next month with the same type of focus and passion we displayed most of today.”

Goshen will hit the road for its next MCC contest, looking to grab its first win away from the Roman Gingerich Center this season. The Leafs will travel to Spring Arbor University Wednesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.