(Box Score) Livonia, MI — With the Goshen College women’s basketball team concluding the academic first semester with final examinations this week, the Leafs suffered a mathematical improbability Saturday, dropping its third game of the young season by a three-point margin in a 51-54 defeat at Madonna University.

Following a 55-58 loss to Geneva College on Nov. 17 (click here for related article) and a 50-53 defeat to Spring Arbor University on Dec. 2 (click here for article), Goshen (3-9, 0-3) fell victim to the hat trick of three-point losses Saturday, despite holding the Crusaders to just 18 first-half points and a 30.8 percent shooting clip from the field overall.

A late push from Madonna and missed Goshen opportunities paved the way for the comeback win by the hosts, as Leafs’ head coach Steve Wiktorowski swallowed hard following what might have been.

Again.

“Having just finished final exams Friday afternoon, it was not an ideal time to make the long trip to (the) Detroit (area) for our next game,” Wiktorowski said following the contest. “We battled hard, but were just not very sharp for 40 minutes and our level of play was very up and down. We got off to a slow start, but battled back and took the lead at halftime. They shot the ball much better in the second half. We were able to hang around and keep it close, but could never quite make the final plays to finish them off either offensively or defensively.”

It was Madonna that shot out to an early lead in the contest, grasping an eight-point advantage midway through the period. It was at that point that sophomore Krystal Duensing began to take over, pushing Goshen back ahead late in the period. A late run sparked by several Duensing jumpers made the score 22-18, Goshen, at the intermission. Wiktorowski’s team limited the Crusaders to just 22.6 percent shooting in the period (seven of 31) and a one for 15 effort from three-point land (6.7 percent).

“Krystal Duensing really carried us the first half offensively, and our defense did a good job in limiting them to just 18 points,” Wiktorowski said. “We didn’t come out very sharp offensively, however, so our lead was not what it could have been.”

As Goshen made just seven of 23 first-half attempts from the floor (30.4 percent), Madonna stayed within striking distance. Back-to-back three pointers from Madonna to open the second period made it a 24-22 Crusader advantage, and a close contest would ensue for the majority of the half. With the game tied 32-32, Madonna made the second of two free throws to capture a 33-32 lead. It was an advantage that the hosts would not give up.

Another tandem of Madonna treys made it a 41-32 contest with just under five minutes to play, and it was Wiktorowski’s team that needed the comeback effort. Despite cutting the lead to three points with under a minute remaining, Madonna cashed in on necessary free throws to preserve the win.

Duensing led all scorers in the contest, knocking in 15 points on a four for 14 shooting effort. Freshman Ashley Hummer added eight points, while sophomore Troyanna Scott and junior Katie Sowers each scored six points. Sowers added a career-high 11 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive end of the floor.

Statistics were nearly even between the squads, with the only shooting differential coming at the free throw line: Madonna made 16 of its 20 attempts (80 percent), while Goshen made just 13 of 22 (59.1 percent).

“Some key turnovers and missed free throws really hurt us at the end,” Wiktorowski said. “I thought Katie Sowers and (freshman) Chloe VanDenBrink were active and their energy really showed on the boards. (Senior) Danielle Haney continues to give us solid minutes as her knee gets stronger. Duensing struggled with her shooting the second half, but was still a strong perimeter presence the whole game. Ashley and (freshman) Kimmie Hummer also were more active the second half. Now that finals are over, hopefully we can better concentrate on just basketball the next few weeks and our young team can improve on some little things that have hurt us in a couple recent close losses.”

Goshen will take a week of practice time before hosting its own tournament next weekend, as the Leafs will host the ninth annual Goshen College Classic beginning Friday. Goshen will open play against Purdue University-Calumet at 6 p.m. Friday evening. Indiana University-South Bend and Indiana Tech will meet up in Friday’s second game at approximately 8 p.m. The consolation game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday and the championship at 3 p.m. 91.1 FM The Globe and www.globeradio.org will broadcast both Goshen contests during the tournament.