By Andrew Snyder
Sports Information Intern

GOSHEN, Ind. — The Maple Leaf women's basketball team grabbed a season-high 58 rebounds and Gabby Williams posted her second consecutive double-double as Goshen College snagged a 69-51 win over Trinity International University on Tuesday afternoon at Gunden Gymnasium.

Lynnia Noel wasted no time getting in the scorebook: the senior she tallied the first point of the game for the Maple Leafs (8-6) before the two teams traded 1-point leads 10 times in the first quarter. Arielle Miree broke the trend with a 3-pointer for the Trojans (4-9) at the 4:01 mark, countered by Calla Bartlett's bucket to knot the game at 13-13 eight seconds later.

The next six points also went Goshen's way, five from Sydney Stein, and the hosts closed the quarter with four straight points from Haley Archibeque for a 24-15 lead. Goshen led wire-to-wire in the second, third and fourth periods.

Noel led the Maple Leafs with seven in the first quarter, tacking on the first five of the second stanza as well for her game-high 12 points. The Goshen advantage ballooned as high as 15 with 2:16 left in the first half, but the Trojans gave a bit of resistance and cut it to a 13-point game at halftime, 39-26. Sarina Falvo led Trinity International with seven points.

After averaging 37 rebounds per game this season, the Maple Leafs pulled down 34 in the first half alone, split evenly between the two quarters. Noel led the corralling charge with seven boards, including five on the offensive glass.

Both teams shot 7-of-17 from the field in the third stanza, including a 3-pointer each, and a Rayelle Ross free throw was the only point difference in the quarter. Goshen controlled the first half of the third, branching out to a game-high 18-point lead at the 6:31 mark before the Trojans sliced it back to 10 with under a minute left.

An Archibeque floater would conclude the quarter scoring, leaving the Maple Leafs on top 54-42 with 10 minutes left to play. Marlou Peters paced TIU with six points in the third while Goshen saw six players score, with Williams' four points the most.

Archibeque unloaded a 3-pointer with 7:27 remaining to put the hosts up by 15 at 59-44 and they never looked back, taking the contest by an 18-point margin. The Maple Leafs saw all 14 active members of the roster enter in the fourth quarter, with all but one recording at least a point.

"Our bench gave us everything we needed to get this win," Goshen head coach Stephanie Miller commented. "The energy and effort off the bench was a tremendous defense and quickness boost that we were able to capitalize on early. Haley Archibeque has really stepped up in all aspects the last two games, becoming a strong floor leader defensively. Both Carley and Caitlyn O'Neal did a great job executing our pack line man-to-man defense with strong communication. Sydney Stein and Angela McLean did a great job getting boards and clogging gaps, and Donnae Lipinski came in and gave us excellent and productive minutes both on offense and defense."

Noel's 12 points topped the scoring chart as Goshen went 26-of-70 (37 percent) from the floor. Williams grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds along with 10 points for her 16th career double-double in two seasons as a Maple Leaf. The Trojans ended 20-of-67 (30 percent) from the field, led by Falvo's 12 points and 10 apiece from Peters and Basha Ramsey.

"This was our best four-quarter defensive effort of the season," said Miller. "We dominated the glass against a strong rebounding team which allowed us to play with pace for most of the game. TIU can really get teams off balance with their athletic ability and paint attack, and we did a strong job with our weak side defense and challenged their shots."

"We've shown signs of real growth on this four game winning streak," continued Miller. "We have learned to finish in close games: today we learned to take control of a game and not allow the opponent back in. These seem obvious, but they takes time and experience and we have maximized our learning opportunities in the last four games."

Goshen has the rest of the week off, its second-longest layoff of the regular season, before heading to the west coast for a pair of games before the new year. The Maple Leafs take on Westmont College on Thursday, Dec. 28 at 8:30 p.m. EST, followed by a game against The Master's University at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve.