GC WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Late rally falls short for Leafs against Taylor

Jan. 5—GOSHEN — Goshen College won three of the four quarters against Taylor Wednesday.

Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs, the one they lost proved to be the biggest difference.

The Trojans outscored the home team, 18-2, in the second quarter, allowing them to take a 13-point lead at halftime. While Goshen would eventually cut the deficit to as little as one in the fourth quarter, they weren't able to complete the full comeback, ultimately falling, 64-59, in women's basketball Crossroads League action at Gunden Gymnasium.

"That was it," Goshen College coach Stephanie Miller said bluntly after the game, referencing the second quarter.

Nothing went right for the Leafs (6-10, 1-5 CL) in the second quarter. They were 1-of-11 shooting in the frame, with the only made field goal coming from senior Sa'Drea Rougeau with 1:05 left before halftime. They were outrebounded 15-9, including allowing eight offensive rebounds to the Trojans. Goshen also committed eight turnovers across the 10-minute span.

"The turnovers were taking away possessions from us even maintaining the ball and getting good shots off," Miller said. "It was too many turnovers and too many mistakes, and we gave them too many second-chance points in the first half. ... They were sagging so much on us (defensively) that it was almost we were so confused we were so open, so we were taking some shots that were awkward and weren't in rhythm."

The Maple Leafs won the third quarter, 14-12, to make it a 45-34 Taylor lead going into the final frame.

The margin remained at 11 with 5:31 left in the contest. That's when Goshen started mounting its comeback attempt. A 14-4 run, capped off with a basket from sophomore Zoe Zellers, made it just a 60-59 Trojans lead with 38.1 seconds left.

Following a timeout, the Leafs looked to get one last defensive stop. With only a handful of seconds left on the shot clock, though, Leafs junior Sophia Eli was called for a foul, stopping the clock. A second later, junior Zion Neat was forced to foul because the shot clock was off.

This allowed Taylor junior Ava Henson to step up to the free-throw line, where she made both shots to put her team ahead, 62-59, with 13.2 seconds remaining.

"It was killer that we came down and that foul was called," Miller said. "We just tried to hold for one possession, and then that foul was called in the corner and the shot clock was dead and it forced us to foul again, which changed things a little bit."

After a Goshen timeout, the Leafs had a chance to tie it. The inbounds pass went to sophomore Syanne Mohamed, who then passed it to Neat. The junior hoisted the shot, it hit off the rim and didn't go in. After another foul, Henson made two more free-throws, icing the game away for Taylor (10-6, 3-3 CL).

"We spent lots of energy to get back in the game, and then when you're taking timeouts at the end to set things up, you're not in rhythm as much anymore," Miller said. "You've got to be clean in your execution, and I think our execution was a little bit shady at the end. ... It didn't flow exactly the way I wanted it to in the final minute."

For the Trojans, the five starters combined for 62 of their 64 points. Three reached double digits, with Claycee West scoring 16 points and Henson and Taylor Westgate 15 each.

Goshen was led on offense by Neat's 13 points. Montasia McAllister was the next leading scorer, chipping in nine points off the bench. Eight total players for the Leafs scored in the game.

"In the second half, we cleaned it up," Miller said of her team's performance Wednesday. "We didn't turn the ball over. We outrebounded them. The defense was intense. I thought we did a great job of adjusting to their (defense) and getting better looks."

GC returns to action Saturday afternoon with a road game at No. 6 Marian. After a 5-1 start to the season that included their lone Crossroads League win over Huntington, the Leafs have lost nine of their last 10.

Despite the struggles, Miller isn't going to make changes to what they're doing as a team.

"We're going to do exactly what we're doing," Miller said. "We're not doing anything different because we're learning and we're growing. We're getting there. We've dropped some games because we're playing tight games in the Crossroads League. Everybody's good every night. I thought we played a pretty good basketball game (Wednesday); we just had a stressed out, tight second quarter."

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.