Box Score
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Playing the #5 ranked team in the nation on their home court is never easy. Doing it without one starter and losing another just twelve minutes in proved to be even tougher as the Goshen College women's basketball team lost 92-51 to St. Francis Wednesday night.
The Maples Leafs took an early 4-0 lead after consecutive baskets from Cassie Grieves and Lindsay Gangloff. However, St. Francis quickly answered with an 11-0 run to take a seven-point lead.
Bouncing right back, Goshen used a 9-0 run of their own to take a two-point lead (15-13) after a 3-pointer and a jumper from Ashley Hummer. Goshen would lead for the last time just minutes later before losing leading scorer Cassie Grieves to a concussion.
"We just didn't have the horses or the focus to match up with them for 40 minutes tonight," explained Head Coach Steve Wiktorowski. "Krystal Duensing, our second leading scorer and assist and steal leader, didn't dress again tonight because of a knee injury and Cassie Greives, our leading scorer and rebounder this year, played only 12 minutes after suffering a concussion."
"She (Greives) still led us in scoring, but with those two out and three other players in first-half foul trouble, it really put a lot of pressure on our other players to play at a really high level on the home floor of one of the best teams in the country. We actually did a pretty good job and played them fairly even for most of the first half."
Down 41-30 and two starters at half, the Maple Leafs could not survive an early 21-5 run by the Cougars as they took a commanding lead that St. Francis continued to stretch in the second half.
"We really struggled coming back out of the locker room and were not very competitive the first 10 minutes of the second half and they really made us pay," added Wiktorowski. "They had almost 20 more shot attempts for the game and after shooting nearly 50% the first half, we didn't mange half that in the second."
In just twelve minutes on the floor, Cassie Grieves was the leading scorer for Goshen with ten points. Ashley Hummer dropped in seven, while Lindsey Gangloff scored six. Toni Burney led four Cougars in double-digits with seventeen points on 8-of-14 shooting.
"Greives did some good things in limited minutes tonight and we clearly missed her presence inside. Lindsay Gangloff was our most steady player tonight and Leah Lehman played well coming off a sprained ankle that caused her to miss the last game. (Erica) Emanuel gave us good energy and a little scoring off the bench."
"Duensing probably won't be ready this week, but we have to quickly get the rest of us rested and healthy for Saturday as this is a tough week playing the #4 and #5 teams in the country back-to-back. That's the way it is in this conference and we are a very young team that plays hard, so hopefully we can bounce back after a tough one tonight and take another crack at a very good team on Saturday."
Goshen will host #4 Bethel College Saturday at 1 p.m.
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Sophomore Ashley Hummer