(Box Score) Milwaukee, WI — Still looking for its first road win of the 2006-2007 season, the Goshen College women’s basketball team came up just short at 22nd-ranked Cardinal Stritch University Saturday, dropping a 42-57 contest.

The loss was not due to a lack of effort — Goshen head coach Steve Wiktorowski said his team competed very well ­— but rather due to a lack of made shots: The Leafs made just 14 buckets en route to shooting 30.4 percent from the field for the contest, including a season-low five made field goals in the second half.

“I thought this was a more closely contested game than the final score indicated,” Wiktorowski said. “We made the long journey to Milwaukee and competed very well, but shot poorly, especially the second half. We got off to a good start with our defense and scored a couple times early off our press. I thought our press was also effective the second half in controlling the tempo of the game and forcing them to take a lot of hurried shots from the perimeter. Unfortunately, despite some good looks inside, we didn't shoot well the second half either, so we couldn't cut into their 10-point halftime lead and so mainly played them even until right at the end when we had to foul. But we worked hard as a team defensively most of the game and it kept us in it most of the way in a very physical game.”

Goshen (5-12, 0-3) spurted out to an early lead despite knocking in just two of eight three-point attempts, as sophomore Krystal Duensing finished two for four behind the arc in the game’s first 20 minutes. The host Wolves slowly began to pull away thanks to slightly better shooting from the field, but also struggled from deep shooting just six of 17 from three-point land (35.3 percent) in the first half.

A 31-21 Stritch halftime lead was enough against a frigid-shooting second half for Goshen, as Wiktorowski’s team made just five of 22 attempts from the floor (22.7 percent). A zero for eight effort from behind the three-point arc didn’t help matters, nor did the Leafs’ 11 for 18 performance from the free throw line (61.1 percent) in the second period.

Goshen’s defense limited a potent Cardinal Stritch team to just an eight for 28 shooting performance in the second half (28.6 percent), but again Goshen’s offensive difficulties thwarted what might have been.

“I thought there were a lot of positives in this game,” Wiktorowski said. “Foremost was that our young team took a big step forward in our competitiveness against good teams on the road. We haven't won on the road yet, nor had we even played well up to this game. But I thought we made them work very hard for this win and it could have been different with a little better shooting on our part, especially from the line.”

Duensing finished as the only Goshen player in double-figure scoring, charting 10 points on a two for 11 effort from the floor. Sophomore Kendra Fights scored seven points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, while freshman Kimmie Hummer notched eight points on a four for 10 shooting effort. Freshman Chloe VanDenBrink scored six points and grabbed six rebounds in 22 minutes of work.

“I thought that (junior) Katie Sowers and Krystal Duensing gave us an outstanding effort over 40 minutes,” Wiktorowski said. “(Freshman) Ashley and Kimmie Hummer struggled a little with their shooting, but were still instrumental with their defensive efforts. Kendra Fights played timidly the first half, but responded to the challenge and was much more aggressive the second half.  We have seen some definite growth and signs of becoming a more consistently competitive team against quality competition the last few games, and hopefully that will continue as we now enter back into the conference only part of our game schedule. 

“I thought this trip was also very good for our team as we tried to do some things to increase our team cohesiveness over the holidays,” Wiktorowski continued. “Besides playing in Milwaukee, we were able to spend a couple nights in Chicago, and the team spent a lot of time exploring the city. One of the highlights was taking in the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers game Saturday night, along with taking a nighttime visit to the top of the John Hancock building to see the city and holiday lights. I think spending this kind of quality time together off the court will help our young team mature and grow closer in the future.”

Goshen’s schedule does not provide any relief at the start of the 2007 calendar year, however, as the Leafs will next host Mid-Central Conference rival Bethel College, a team that is currently ranked eighth in the nation. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Roman Gingerich Center.

“Bethel is having an outstanding season and will be a big challenge as they are one of the top offensive teams in the country and can score in a lot of different ways,” Wiktorowski said.