SOUTH BEND, Ind. –The Goshen College Women’s Basketball team (5-6, 0-1) lost to Indiana University-South Bend (IUSB) on Tuesday in South Bend, with a final score of 64-80.
In their previous contest, a victory over Madonna University, the Leafs jumped out to an early lead, an advantage that would pay dividends in the end. Against IUSB, the roles were reversed, and Goshen found itself in a 3-13 hole after five minutes of play. The Titan defense caused the Leafs to miss their first 10 field goal attempts in the game before Kendra Fights, a junior center, connected on a three-pointer with 14:12 to play in the first half.
”We got off to a tough start tonight, but after about the first 10 minutes, I thought we were pretty competitive with them,” said head coach Steve Wiktorowski. “They have good size and I thought it intimidated us early on offense and made us unsure in our rebounding.”
For the second straight game, the Leafs showed consistency shooting from beyond the arc, connecting on 47.6 percent of their three-point attempts. Krystal Duensing, a junior guard, kept Goshen within striking distance early by connecting on four first-half three-pointers. And Lindsay Gangloff, a first-year guard, also hit a three-pointer to close the gap to 32-38 with 17:48 left in the game. However, IUSB responded with an 11-0 run and never looked back.
Goshen regained some momentum with four minutes to play and pulled within 10 points. Several close calls going against the Leafs and late turnovers foiled the comeback.
“After struggling with our shooting for awhile, it was good to see some of our guards put two good shooting games together from the arc,” said Wiktorowski. “They are difficult to defend because they have some good inside scorers who you have to give help on, but then they have some good shooters who can hurt you if you pay too much attention to their inside game.”
Four Titan players turned in double-digit scoring efforts and, as a team, IUSB out-rebounded the Leafs 44-35. For Goshen, Duensing produced a game-high 15 points, all on three-pointers, and dished out five assists. Kimmie Hummer, a sophomore, recorded 14 points and seven steals. Cassie Greives, a first-year center, and Fights corralled seven rebounds each.
Wiktorowski noted Fights and Ashley Hummer for their contributions off the bench, and Kimmie Hummer for her second straight solid performance running the floor.
“Even though we lost I felt it was the second straight game we were pretty competitive with athletic teams, and it was especially good to see that kind of competitiveness come on the road despite not playing our best. Hopefully we can carry that over to Florida before we break for the holidays."
The Leafs travel to Lake Wales, Florida for the Warner Southern Christmas Classic tournament this weekend, Dec. 14-15.
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2007-2008 Season News
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  Junior Krystal Duensing
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