GOSHEN, Ind. — Donnae Lipinski matched her career-high scoring total Wednesday night as Goshen College dropped a 68-55 Crossroads League women's basketball decision to nationally-ranked Indiana Wesleyan on Wednesday in Gunden Gymnasium.

Lipinski drained four of her seven shots from the floor and went 4-of-5 at the foul line while Claire Rauck used four 3-pointers to match her team-high 12 points. Hanna Hochstetler tied her career high with 5 rebounds to pace the Maple Leafs (1-22, 0-11).

Goshen opened the scoring after seven seconds when Keyaira Murff knocked the opening tip out to Carley O'Neal, who beat the Wildcats to the basket for a lay-in. After Indiana Wesleyan (17-6, 9-2) responded with a 3-pointer by Katie Key 23 seconds later, Mariah Roe put the home club back on top with a triple of her own.

The Wildcats countered with a 9-0 run to lead by as many as seven points in the opening stanza before GC made four of its next five shots on an 11-0 spurt to lead 16-12. Lipinski converted a pair of old-fashioned 3-point plays as IWU scored a single free throw over three minutes and 45 seconds.

After shooting 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) in the opening quarter, Goshen's offense went 3-for-15 in the second stanza allowing IWU to lead 32-25 at the intermission. Anna Imhoff and Nicole Ignasiak paced the Wildcats with six points apiece in the period. Each team struggled with first-half turnovers: IWU posted 10 and the Maple Leafs eight.

The visitors' lead fluctuated from six to 10 points for the bulk of the third quarter, save a two-minute span where Key scored five straight points to stretch the edge to 13 before Mariah Roe added five of her own to undo it. Goshen outrebounded IWU 8-6 in the period, which finished in a virtual deadlock: Dayton Groninger's score with 39 seconds left put IWU up 47-39 after half an hour.

Each team posted its best offensive quarter of the night in the fourth, partly thanks to chances with the clock stopped: the teams combined for 16 fouls, 21 free throw attempts and 11 turnovers (a group that included just three live-ball steals).

IWU made use of its trips to the foul line, going 10-of-12 there in the quarter and 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) on the night, while also hitting at 62.5 percent from the floor to score 21 points in the last 10 minutes. Ignasiak was perfect on four foul shots and two field goals for another eight-point quarter; O'Neal scored seven points for Goshen while Lipinski added four more before fouling out on the Wildcats' last possession.

The teams joined the other eight Crossroads League members to raise money for Destiny Rescue, an internationally recognized Christian non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing and restoring children trapped in the sex trade.

"I want to personally thank all of the supporters who came out to cheer us on and help support the cause," Goshen coach Stephanie Miller said. "I was humbled by the generosity of our community as well as the Indiana Wesleyan fans. "The crowd was spirited and the Leaf Pile really stepped up its game. Their energy helped fuel us to compete at a very high level tonight."

"Give IWU credit for making some key plays to swing the momentum back in their direction in the fourth quarter," Miller continued. "We were just a few plays away from being in it in the final two or three minutes. I thought we attacked their defense well, kept our composure under pretty tough defensive pressure they were applying, and made some great plays where we shared the ball well. We lost the glass big and shot too low of a percentage to pull out the upset, but my team deserves some real credit for what they have been able to do against two of the league's top teams in the last week. This is the third game in a row where we've showed tremendous growth in our toughness and aggressiveness. We are truly taking huge steps in the right direction. "

Ignasiak would lead all scorers with 18 points while Anna Imhoff added 14, including four 3s of her own, for the Wildcats. Ignasiak's six rebounds were also a game high; while IWU's most potent rebounder outdid Goshen's best pair (Hochstetler and Sydney Stein) by a single carom, the Wildcats got 36 boards to Goshen's 26.

The Wildcats finished the game shooting 47.8 percent (22-for-46) from the floor and 35.3 percent (6-for-17) from long range, getting seven assists from Anna Washington in the process. Goshen checked in at 35.1 percent (20-for-57) overall.

Each team finished the game with 19 turnovers while Goshen committed 20 fouls to Indiana Wesleyan's 18; on average, the game had a foul or a turnover every 32 seconds. The Maple Leafs added five steals, with O'Neal's two leading the team: the senior also recorded her first block of the year.

"Carley and Mariah did an excellent job keeping their composure and attacking Indiana Wesleyan's overplay," Miller said. "Hanna played great minutes for us this evening and was a real difference-maker while Murff struggled to get in rhythm due to foul trouble. Donnae played very aggressive tonight, attacking the basket with authority. Claire Rauck has really been growing up right before our eyes as well. She has played rock-solid minutes for us and her stroke from the arc has really put some pressure on opposing teams."

The Maple Leafs hit the road Saturday for their shortest sojourn of the season, a 26-mile trip to Winona Lake to take on Grace College. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center.