(Box Score) Goshen, IN — Coming into Thursday night’s season opener against Andrews University, the Goshen College women’s basketball program had charted wins by an average of 57 points per game over its initial opponent.

It didn’t get any better for the Cardinals this season.

In just its third year of intercollegiate competition, visiting Andrews looked the part Thursday, falling by a 74-19 count at the Roman Gingerich Center. Goshen’s youthful and short-handed squad made quick work of the Cardinals, opening up a 20-8 lead early on and never looking back.

Even with the lopsided win, fifth-year Leafs’ head coach Steve Wiktorowski found plenty for his nine-player squad to improve on during the post-game analysis.

“I thought that we showed our youth early in our first game,” Wiktorowski said. “We played hard but a little out of control and settled for too many jump shots. Our press then started to work, we forced some turnovers and got some easy baskets which started to relax us. We played a much more complete game on both ends in the second half and had better carry-over from what we practice every day. Our defensive intensity remained consistent while we constantly changed defenses and we had much better organization and execution in our offense.”

Goshen (1-0, 0-0) missed 11 of its first 13 shots from the floor and committed three of its total 11 turnovers in the game’s first five and a half minutes, falling behind by an 8-6 score with 15:24 to play in the first half.

The Leafs then spurted out to a 14 to nothing run, however, and the rout was on. Andrews scored just four points in the final 15 minutes of the first period, and Goshen took a 31-12 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Defense tightened in the second half, as Goshen allowed just three Andrews baskets, occurring at the 17:49, 11:32 and 1:47 marks. Meanwhile, the Leafs heated up offensively, scoring on 17 of 31 total second-half field goal attempts (54.8 percent) after going just 12 of 36 (33.3 percent) in the first half.

Goshen forced Andrews into 30 turnovers on the night and allowed just two offensive boards despite a total 30 missed shots from the Cardinals. Wiktorowski’s team also got to the free throw line 20 times (making 15, 75 percent) while Andrews went just three for four from the charity stripe, with all attempts coming in the first half of play.

Scoring was well-spread for Goshen, as all eight dressed players scored at least four points and charted at least 14 minutes of action. Sophomore Troyanna Scott led all scorers with 14 points on six of nine shooting. She also grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman Chloe VanDenBrink added 13 points while sophomore Krystal Duensing scored 11 and junior Katie Sowers 10. Freshman Ashley Hummer tallied nine points while sophomore Kendra Fights secured a game-high nine boards.

Danielle Haney, Goshen’s lone senior, did not dress due to a nagging knee injury. Her status is listed as doubtful for the team’s immediate future. Haney’s absence leaves just one uppeclassman available for Wiktorowski in Sowers. Four freshmen and three sophomores comprise the remainder of the Leafs’ roster.

“Everyone came in and made some very good contributions tonight which is very important for us because of our small numbers,” Wiktorowski said. “I was especially happy with the job our four first-year players did in their first collegiate game, especially Chloe VanDenBrink with her aggressiveness and (freshman) Kara Boester with her intelligence. Krystal Duensing gave us good leadership at the point and Katie Sowers played aggressively, yet under control. Troyanna Scott and Kendra Fights were especially strong on the boards. Our competition will start to become more advanced and it is important that we take experience and confidence from this game and continue to improve as a young team.”

Goshen will return to the Roman Gingerich Center in just two days, as the team will host Trinity Christian College Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.