FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Four days before Christmas 1891, James Naismith nailed two peach baskets to a gymnasium railing and the game of basketball was formed. In the summer of 1994, Saint Francis College (now the University of St. Francis) joined the Mid-Central College Conference and began playing Goshen College twice a year in women's basketball. For the first time since either of those events, the Maple Leafs swept the season series from the Cougars Saturday afternoon in Fort Wayne.

Sophia Sears scored 16 points and Jo'Mani Thomas posted a double-double as Goshen edged St. Francis. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak against USF at the Hutzell Athletic Center and was only the third win for Goshen in that building, which opened in 1990.

Thomas finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Liz Tecca added 13 points, Gabby Williams 11 and Tyra Carver 10 for the Maple Leafs (16-6, 8-2 Crossroads League), who shot 41 percent from the floor and made 13 of their 16 foul shots in the second half to seal the win.

"This was a gutsy win today," said Goshen coach Stephanie Miller. "USF was not interested in rolling out the red carpet for us. They came to battle and I'm proud of how well we responded on the road. It was simply a matter of toughness and when a game comes to that, I like our chances."

The Cougars (9-10, 5-5 CL) used a 5-0 run at the end of the first quarter to lead 18-13 after 10 minutes. They held that advantage into the second stanza, but Goshen made four straight field goals in an 82-second span to key a 14-0 run and led 36-31 at halftime. The score was 53-all after three periods.

"We had some good spurts where our transition offense put pressure on them and brought us back when we were struggling to get into a rhythm," Miller said. "Liz Tecca has been on a hot streak from downtown and seemed to hit a big '3' every time we needed an answer. Sophia was just clutch. Her ability to control a game, the tempo, and read and react to situations is just second to none."

First Williams then Tecca made tie-breaking baskets for Goshen early in the fourth quarter, but Brooke Ridley converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the hosts a 62-60 edge with 3:42 to play. On the ensuing possession, she fouled Sears, who sank two free throws to tie the score at 62 with 3:29 remaining. The foul was Ridley's fourth: she would be disqualified with 55 seconds to play and a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds.

"Ridley was tough to stop today," Miller said. "Keshia (Ward), Gabby and Jo'Mani just kept working and working on the defensive end of the glass and came up with some timely boards and played great defense."

Following a Cougar possession that ended in missed free throws, Sears converted a go-ahead three-point play at the 1:36 mark to give her team a lead it never relinquished. Ridley pulled USF within a point, 65-64, with 64 seconds left before Sears scored four points on Goshen's next two trips.

After a held ball with 10 seconds left and the Leaf lead at 69-68, USF missed a go-ahead shot of its own before Thomas iced the game from the line.

Williams added eight boards while Sears dished a team-high three assists. Both players registered blocks. The Maple Leafs grabbed 38 caroms to the Cougars' 37 and racked up 11 assists on 25 made baskets.

"On the road, there are so many obstacles to overcome, plus we even created a few of our own," Miller said. "The goal was to stick together and weather every storm and we did that with the game on the line. The difference in the game was at the free-throw line. Down the stretch, we hit some big ones and they missed some key ones."

Taylor Wilson had a game-high four assists for St. Francis despite not scoring. The Cougars made 47 percent of their 3-point shots but went just 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) at the foul line.

With the win over St. Francis coupled with Huntington's upset of Indiana Wesleyan, Goshen now holds second place outright in the conference standings. Marian is two games clear of the rest of the table at 10-0, Goshen is 8-2 and IWU is 7-3. St. Francis and Huntington round out the first division at 5-5 apiece.

The Maple Leafs return to the floor Wednesday evening when they host Spring Arbor University. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Gunden Gymnasium.