(Box Score) Goshen, IN — The Goshen College women’s basketball team secured a much-needed win Wednesday night in the Roman Gingerich Center, defeating Taylor University-Fort Wayne by a 78-48 score.

With its last two home contests coming against ranked opponents and a three-game road swing pushing the Leafs to a six-game losing skid, Goshen (3-6, 0-1) came out on all cylinders Wednesday night, taking a 47-17 halftime lead over the Lady Falcons and never looking back.

Wednesday’s win also marked the return of lone senior Danielle Haney, who played in her first intercollegiate competition since spraining a knee ligament in mid-September as a member of the Leafs’ women’s volleyball team (click here for related article). Playing in her first basketball game of the year, Haney logged eight minutes, grabbed three rebounds and collected one steal.

It all was pleasing to head coach Steve Wiktorowski, most notably Goshen’s 51.5 percent shooting clip from the field in the first half of play.

“We probably played our best overall basketball of the year so far in the first half tonight,” Wiktorowski said. “We set the tone early with our aggressive defense which led to some easy offensive opportunities. On the offensive end we moved the ball well, got good looks and shot well.”

Goshen stormed out to an early lead over Taylor-Fort Wayne thanks in part to forcing 14 first-half turnovers, as an early Lady Falcons' 3-0 lead was short-lived. Wiktorowski’s team rattled off the game’s next 12 points, and from there things exploded: By the mid-way point of the first half the Leafs had a 29-9 lead, while Taylor-Fort Wayne would only connect on seven of 23 first-half shot attempts (23.3 percent) in falling behind by a 30-point halftime deficit.

A brief Goshen struggle in the second period allowed the gap to close to 21 points at the 8:37 mark (56-35), but the Leafs responded with a 10 to nothing run to effectively put the game away. Taylor-Fort Wayne would get no closer than 24 points in the contest’s final eight minutes, as Goshen eventually captured as much as a 32-point lead late.

“We came out a little tentative the second half and weren't nearly as sharp offensively early in the half,” Wiktorowski said. “But our defense got a few steals and got us refocused, and then we went on to run our offense much better. We weren't consistent in rebounding and had too many turnovers, but the key was we scored much more consistently and shot well from the perimeter the whole game.”

Goshen forced 26 Lady Falcon turnovers on the night but had 22 of its own, including 15 in the second half. The Leafs’ execution in shooting the basketball was nearly flawless, however, as Goshen made a total 28 of 57 shots from the floor (49.1 percent) and knocked in nine of 21 from three-point range (42.9 percent).

Freshman Ashley Hummer led the shooting pace, going seven of 12 from the floor for 17 points. She also added five assists. Sophomore Kendra Fights scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds in just 21 minutes of work, while freshman Chloe VanDenBrink added 15 points and seven boards. Junior Katie Sowers scored eight and secured seven rebounds, while sophomore Troyanna Scott scored nine and classmate Krystal Duensing dished out five assists.

“After a couple good practices Kendra Fights came out and played like she is capable tonight,” Wiktorowski said. “She scored both inside and outside, worked hard on the boards and was focused on defense. Ashley Hummer also played very well after struggling a little the last couple games. She shot well and also played hard on defense the whole game. Chloe VanDenBrink again gave us some good offense and rebounding off the bench. Katie Sowers handled the ball well and finished the game with some strong rebounding. Krystal Duensing was solid on both ends of the floor and gave us good leadership. Hopefully this game will give us confidence in our ability to produce offensively.”

The Leafs return to the Mid-Central Conference grind next, as the team will host Spring Arbor University on Saturday. Game time is set for 1 p.m. in the Roman Gingerich Center.