(Box
Score) Marion, IN — Facing the number one ranked team for the entire 2006-2007 season to date, the Goshen College women’s basketball team put up a valiant effort before falling by a 68-33 score at Indiana Wesleyan University Saturday.
Goshen (5-18, 0-9) came out on all cylinders, claiming a 15-12 lead at Wesleyan’s Luckey Arena before coming to a stagnant point offensively. After starting strong, the Leafs would finish the first half making just seven of 22 shots from the floor (31.8 percent) allowing Indiana Wesleyan to close the half with a 22 to four run.
Showing signs of promise and yet still trailing 34-19 at the break, Leafs’ head coach Steve Wiktorowski knew it would be tough to hand the host Wildcats their first loss of the season.
“One of the main reasons Indiana Wesleyan is ranked first in the country is because their defense is also ranked number one in points allowed,” Wiktorowski said. “Some teams you can beat with a good defensive effort and a mediocre offensive effort. But to beat Wesleyan, you must defend well both inside and out, plus your offensive system must be working well against their switching man defense. I thought we did a very solid job defensively and took some things away from them. But after starting the game by going up 15-12, we couldn't buy a basket until the last six or seven minutes of the game.”
Things got tougher for the Leafs in the second half, as Indiana Wesleyan knocked in 51.9 percent of its attempts (14 of 27) while Goshen could only convert on five of 23 shots from the floor (21.7 percent). While far below the consistency needed to knock off a team of Indiana Wesleyan’s caliber on the road, Goshen’s total offensive performance was vastly improved from its last Mid-Central Conference contest, a 32-43 loss to Marian College in which the squad shot 17 percent from the field (click here for related article).
“ We started and ended the game well on both ends, but really struggled offensively in between,” Wiktorowski said. “We did a solid job on (Indiana Wesleyan All-American senior Liz) Howerth, who was the national player of the week, and held her to 11 points. But a couple other players hit some three pointers that hurt us, and we struggled against the pressure to produce points at the same pace and really rushed our offense.”
Goshen failed to place any player in double-figure scoring, as the team was led by senior Danielle Haney and sophomore Troyanna Scott with eight points apiece. Sophomore Kendra Fights did not score but grabbed a team-high six rebounds, while freshmen Chloe VanDenBrink and Ashley Hummer each added five points.
“Danielle Haney did a nice job in the first half in scoring inside and outside, and gave us inspiration with her hustle,” Wiktorowski said. “Krystal Duensing struggled to score, but many of her shots had to be taken with the clock running out. However, she did a nice job against their pressure defense with only one turnover. It was good to see Scott score some points tonight because she has struggled with her confidence in that area lately. In fact, I was very happy how all the girls continued to work hard and tried to follow the game plan despite our offensive struggles today. We have the bye this week, so hopefully we can continue to work on our offense as we start our second trip through the conference schedule.”
The Leafs will remain idle Wednesday, as the rest of the MCC squads will compete during Goshen’s bye date. Wiktorowski’s team will return to action Saturday, when the team will travel to Spring Arbor University. Game time is set for 1 p.m.
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Senior Danielle Haney