MARION, Ind. – The Goshen College women’s basketball team began its conference schedule with a setback Tuesday, falling by a score of 70-35 to Indiana Wesleyan University, which is ranked 15th in the NAIA. The Leafs fell to 0-1 in Mid Central Conference play, but will look to regroup and get healthy as they head into Christmas break.
With several players battling illnesses, it was apparent from tip-off that the Leafs would be in for an uphill battle against conference powerhouse Indiana Wesleyan. The Wildcats were able to set the tone for the game by opening with a 12-0 run.
Midway through the half, Goshen began to establish a rhythm, started to make more shots and tightened up on defense. This allowed the Leafs to get back into the game. But they could never get closer than seven points, effectively keeping them out of striking distance.
Regarding the first half, head coach Steve Wiktorowski said, “We struggled with passing the ball at the start and couldn't score which put us in an early hole. They are a very difficult team to play catch-up against on their home floor, and while we started to score better in the middle of the first half, they hit a few perimeter shots against our zone and kept us from making a good run at them.”
To be exact, IWU went 6-12 from three-point territory compared with 1 of 3 for Goshen. With a 15-point advantage, 36-21, this stat proved to be the key for IWU’s lead going into the break.
The second half did not prove much better for the Leafs as IWU continued to turn up the pressure on both ends of the court. As a result, the Leafs had a field goal percentage of 17.4, and went 0-6 from three-point range. The Leafs were held to only 14 points in the second half.
Another key statistic for the game was turnovers. Goshen was on the receiving end of nine, while they gave up 18 and had the ball stolen from them 12 times. Along with turnovers, IWU was able to control the boards by posting a 34-29 advantage in rebounds.
Amid the strong IWU performance, Goshen first-year student Cassie Greives and sophomore Lindsay Gangloff, continued their impressive seasons as they were the Leafs’ leading scorers with 12 and 9 points, respectively. Greives led all players in rebounds with 10.
Following the game, Coach Wiktorowski said there were still positive aspects that the Leafs took from game.
“Wesleyan is defending national champions and I believe tied an NAIA record tonight for most consecutive wins," Wiktorowski said. "They lost some people from last year, but are still a really good shooting team, are very sound defensively and with the ball, and are maybe even more balanced offensively than last year. Playing them so early in the conference season at their place was not an easy thing for us to do at this point, but I think the experience will make us better during the heart of conference play in January and February.”
Indeed, the experience should help Goshen prepare for conference play as the upcoming schedule includes three teams ranked in the top 25 of the NAIA’s national poll, as well as three others which received votes in the first ranking for this season.
Goshen will return home to the Roman Gingerich Center this Saturday, Dec. 8 for a matchup against the Madonna University Crusaders of Livonia, Mich. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
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2007-2008 Season News
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  Sophomore LIndsay Gangloff
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