Goshen, IN — Perhaps the Andrews University women’s basketball team should have checked the Goshen College women’s basketball yearbooks before agreeing to open the Leafs’ 2005-2006 home slate.

For visitors, it’s not a good position to be in.

Goshen ran its consecutive streak of home opening wins to eight Thursday night at the Roman Gingerich Center, defeating the visiting Cardinals of Andrews by a 71-20 score. Goshen head coach Steve Wiktorowski was able play every available member of his team in the win, and all that played scored. Only senior Jenn Rupp and freshman Rachel Canen (both sidelined with knee injuries) were the only players on the roster not to see action.

“I thought we played well in the second half after a shaky first,” Wiktorowski said. “Our press got us some easy baskets to start, and then we began to play more with our minds instead of just emotionally. With that we began to execute better and get higher percentage shots.”

While Goshen (1-0, 0-0) was only able to convert on 10 of 37 first half shots (27 percent) it paled in comparison to the shooting woes Andrews experienced: The Cardinals hit on just three of 16 first-half attempts (18.8 percent), allowing the Leafs to take a 28-7 lead at the intermission.

Things got worse for the Cardinals from that point, as a 14 to nothing Goshen run to open the second half made the score 42-7. Andrews was never able to mount any challenge, as the 51-point final margin was the largest of the game for Wiktorowski’s team.

Goshen’s pressure was able to force Andrews into 46 turnovers on the night, while the Leafs were the primary beneficiary of their own misfortunes: Shooting just 26 for 73 on the night (35.6 percent), Goshen was able to collect 23 offensive rebounds, just five less than the total caroms collected by the Cardinals.

Freshman Kendra Fights led Goshen’s effort with 17 points on eight of 14 shooting. Sophomore Jess Buller — arriving to the Leafs’ lineup just one day after finishing out her role as setter on the Goshen College volleyball team — provided 11 points on three of eight shooting from behind the three-point arc. Classmate Kelsy McKee knocked in 10 points, while freshman Krystal Duensing tallied nine.

“It was good to play everyone at least 10 minutes and have them all score in the first game,” Wiktorowski said. “It was good to get the typical first game nerves and mistakes out of the way before having to play a very tough opponent on Tuesday. I thought (sophomore) Sarah Arnold did a good job handling the ball on a bad leg. Kelsy McKee (three for 13 from the floor) and Krystal Duensing (three of 12) struggled with their shot, but found other ways to help us. (Sophomore) Carrie Brinks (two points, five rebounds) and (freshman) Troyanna Scott (six points eight boards) both played their roles well off the bench. Jess Buller and (sophomore) Carly Feldman also both did some very positive things considering their volleyball season ended just last night and they have yet to practice with us this season.”

The home opening win was the program’s eighth consecutive, as the last season-opening loss in the Roman Gingerich Center came in the 1997-1998 season against Robert Morris College. Goshen dropped that contest by a 68-76 score.

The squad will get back to the practice court in hopes of competing well in its next contest, as 12th-ranked Cornerstone University will visit the Roman Gingerich Center on Tuesday. Game time is set for 7 p.m.