Goshen, IN — For Goshen head coach Steve Wiktorowski, signs of his team’s improvement were evident long before tip-off at 20th-ranked Mid-Central Conference rival Marian College on Saturday afternoon.

At least the bus was full.

Just four days after Wiktorowski took only eight available players to Spring Arbor University — a 65-66 loss, click here for recap — Goshen dressed and played all 11 players on its roster Saturday, fighting hard before stumbling to a 47-70 loss to the Knights. Goshen (5-20, 1-10) found itself tied 17-17 with Marian with just 7:16 to play in the first half, but a significant drought put the game out of reach for Wiktorowski’s team: The Leafs scored just two points from that moment until the 16:09 mark in the second half, seeing a 17-17 tie dissipate into a 40-19 deficit.

“We knew it would be a very physical battle on their court today with them having lost a close game on Wednesday at Taylor (University),” Wiktorowski said. “I thought we played through that very well for about the first 18 minutes of the game, but then lost a little concentration and let them go on a run to end the half. We made them shoot from outside in the first half and that bothered them, but they made up for it with too many offensive rebounds and putbacks.”

Marian’s 19 offensive boards laced the storyline of the game, as the Knights gained a 19 to eight advantage in second-chance points as a result. Despite shooting just six for 22 from the field in the first half (27.3 percent), Goshen trailed by just nine points at the intermission (19-28). Unfortunately for the Leafs, the two-point, 10 and a half-minute stretch was too much to overcome, as Marian used a 23 to two run to open a 21-point lead during that time.

After trailing 40-19 with 16:22 to play in the game, freshman Troyanna Scott stopped the bleeding with a layup at the 16:09 mark. That field goal was Goshen’s first points since the 1:38 mark in the first period, when sophomore Carly Feldman was able to convert a free throw. After its lengthy drought, Goshen was only outscored by a 30-28 count in the game’s final 16 minutes of play, but the damage had been done. Marian scored 23 points off of 26 Goshen turnovers, keeping the Leafs at bay for the remainder of the contest.

“I thought we did a better job of keeping them off the boards in the second half, but they really started knocking down jump shots and picking up their defensive pressure,” Wiktorwoski said. “We tried crashing the boards ourselves, but that backfired and they ended up getting some easy transition layups from defensive rebounds and turnovers. We never recovered from that, though we battled hard to the end.”

All 11 rostered players saw at least 10 minutes of action for Goshen, a vast change from Wednesday’s loss in Spring Arbor. Freshman Troyanna Scott led the team with 12 points and six rebounds in her first game back from suffering a deep quadriceps bruise one week earlier. Sophomore Kelsy McKee scored nine points while freshman Rachel Canen scored six after missing Wednesday’s game awaiting mononucleosis test results. She, along with classmate Kendra Fights, were found not to have the infection, a piece of good news as Goshen makes its final run toward the post-season.

“Not being back to 100 percent health is still having a big effect on us offensively,” Wiktorowski said. “Scott came back from missing two games with an injury and gave us some scoring, but while they played some, Rachel Canen and Kendra Fights are not strong enough yet to give us a lot of consistent minutes and points. We have five games left in the conference and are in a battle to make the conference tournament. Three of those last five are at home, so it is important that we keep the fighting attitude we have displayed the last several games, and get everyone healthy and producing more offense so we can make a run for a spot in the tournament.”

Goshen is currently one and a half games out of the final slot for the MCC Tournament — the top eight teams make the event — but still has to play current eighth-seed Grace College (2-8) in the second round of regular-season play. The Leafs will face a daunting task in their next contest, as third-ranked and second-place MCC squad Indiana Wesleyan University will visit the Roman Gingerich Center on Wednesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.