Fort Wayne, IN — Goshen head women’s basketball coach Steve Wiktorowski may have plenty to be thankful for off the court this Thanksgiving holiday.

Most everyone could agree that he’d have to look pretty hard to be thankful for what he’s seen on it, however.

On the very same day that Wiktorowski learned that Leafs’ starting freshman point guard and leading scorer Krystal Duensing would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL in her right knee, sophomore point guard Sarah Arnold sustained a frighteningly similar injury in Monday’s practice, leaving Goshen without an active point guard on its roster for Tuesday’s Mid-Central Conference opener at nationally sixth-ranked University of St. Francis. The result of that game — a 56-94 Goshen loss — is understandable given the Leafs’ plethora of injuries and bad fate.

For Wiktorowski, however, there is no choice but to keep on plugging.

“Injuries are a part of basketball, but they’ve been especially tough on us so far this year,” Wiktorowski said. “Because we were playing (Tuesday night’s game) without either of our point guards in uniform we were at a distinct disadvantage against a team with probably the two quickest point guards in the conference. Still, I was as proud of my team’s effort tonight as in any game I have ever coached. We fought extremely hard until the final buzzer and showed improvement over the course of 40 minutes. If we continue this kind of effort against such outstanding talent, we will improve dramatically over the course of the entire season.”

The absence of Duensing was already a blow for the Leafs — the freshman had averaged 15.3 points per game in the team’s first three contests — but Arnold’s injury presented a far different situation for Wiktorowski. Forced by attrition to place sophomore swing Jess Buller at the point guard position, Wiktorowski witnessed his team trail by a 45-28 score at halftime Tuesday night, connecting on just nine of 25 attempts from the floor (36 percent). St. Francis, meanwhile, scored on 17 of 31 tries (54.8 percent), hitting six of 13 three-pointers (46.2 percent) in taking a 17-point lead at the intermission.

“Their pressure defense made it difficult for us to get into our offense and we struggled stopping them with our transition defense,” Wiktorowski said. “We gave up some easy baskets and they shot extremely well by hitting a good portion of their three-point attempts.”

More of the same was in store for Goshen (1-6, 0-1) in the second period, where St. Francis continue to blister the nets (17 for 28 from the floor, 60.7 percent) while outrebounding the Leafs by a 44 to 18 margin. Wiktorowski’s team converted eight of 12 free throw attempts, but was outshot at the charity stripe as the host Lady Cougars buried 17 of 21 attempts. Perhaps the lone beacon for Goshen came in the turnovers department: With no true point guard on the floor, Wiktorowski’s team committed just nine mistakes, a season low mark. St. Francis committed 10 turnovers.

“Sophomore Jess Buller and freshman Rachel Canen showed great tenacity against their pressure and changing defenses, helping us to only turn it over nine times to their 10,” Wiktorowski said. “We did struggle with rebounding, where they had almost as many offensive (17) as we did total. They were simply both too big and too fast for us to handle with the young personnel we have available right now.”

Sophomore Carly Feldman paced Goshen’s offensive effort, scoring 14 points on six of eight shooting from the field. Junior Danielle Haney notched 11 points on a perfect five for five effort, while Canen scored 10 on four of nine shooting. Freshman Kendra Fights scored eight points to go with a team-high five rebounds.

“Haney played a very solid overall game and hit all five of her shots and knocked down a free throw,” Wiktorowski said. “Sophomore Carly Feldman closed the game strong with some impressive offensive post play. We’ll hope that Sarah’s injury isn’t too serious. If we continue to learn as we get healthy, we will be much more competitive.”

Duensing, with just three games played, is now eligible for medical redshirt per NAIA rules. Wiktorowski said that he will redshirt Duensing, as she is scheduled for reconstructive surgery on Dec. 27. Arnold, meanwhile, will undergo an MRI procedure next Monday to determine the extent of her knee injury. Goshen College head athletic trainer Linda Kaminskis has reported a probable cartilage tear, meaning Arnold would have a strong chance at a return three to five weeks after arthroscopic surgery. A third player — senior Jenn Rupp — is rumored to be nearing recovery from a torn ACL and subsequent reconstructive surgery (click here for article) in the coming weeks. Updates to all three players and their injuries will be posted at this site as they become known.

For now, however, Goshen will enjoy a brief layoff for the Thanksgiving holiday before returning to action on Saturday, when the team will travel to Albion College for a non-conference affair. Game time is set for 1 p.m.