GOSHEN, Ind. — With a rivalry trophy on the line and the Goshen College women's basketball team in search of a Crossroads League win Saturday, the Maple Leafs turned to their lone senior for inspiration.

They found it.

Alyson Prigge, the Maple Leafs' emotional leader, paced her team in a countable way as well, pouring in six 3-pointers and 24 points to finish within three of her career high as Goshen College topped Bethel University 81-77 in Crossroads League and U.S. Highway 20 Cup competition at Gunden Gymnasium.

Janara Flowers added 15 points on 5 threes as the Maple Leafs (8-12, 1-7) hit their highest point total since last November. Mariah Roe and Graysen Cockerham each had 9 points and 7 assists, tying for the game high in the latter category, and TaNiece Chapman led all Goshen players with 7 rebounds.

Kelsey Brickner added 27 points and Savannah Feenstra 14 for the Pilots, who needed their entire team to match Prigge's total of 6 threes. Maci Heimlich recorded 5 assists and Maggie Deboy fetched a game-high 8 rebounds.

The Pilots (6-14, 0-8) shot better than the Maple Leafs on a percentage basis, making 30 shots to Goshen's 27 on 64 attempts apiece. Each team also made 11 free throws, but Goshen dialed long distance 16 times to Bethel's six and outrebounded the Pilots 37-30.

Claire Rauck added three triples for the Maple Leafs. Flowers and Cockerham added 6 rebounds each, Roe chipped in 5 and Prigge contributed 4.

"This was a terrific team win today and I am so proud of these ladies for digging in and finding a way to get the job done down the stretch," said Goshen coach Stephanie Miller. "Bethel did a good job packing in their zone to take away our post entry angles. They were challenging us to shoot the three, so we just started taking our open looks and letting it fly! Alyson, Claire and Janara hit some big-time shots down the stretch."

"Alyson Prigge was a real senior leader for our squad tonight," Miller said. "She not only hit big shots, but she rallied the troops with great energy and vocal leadership on the court, in the locker room, and in the huddle."

Goshen led for the bulk of the first half, using a 7-0 run to crack open a 14-all first-quarter tie and lead 23-16 at the quarter. It was 44-41 at halftime after Goshen held Bethel to 2-for-14 from downtown in the first half; while they never came all the way back, the Pilots got within one on three possessions down the stretch of the second quarter.

After starting the season in the blitzkrieg of the Grinnell system, Bethel has backed off the run-and-shoot style a bit, but their racing tendencies shone through in the third quarter. BU scored 27 points on 12-of-20 shooting, starting the quarter on a 13-3 run and pulling ahead by as many as 10 on Brickner's triple with 2:40 to go.

Prigge, Chapman and Suzanna Yoder all scored in the final two minutes of the third to keep the lead from growing: through three quarters, Bethel led 68-62.

Luckily for the Maple Leafs, there was a fourth quarter still ahead.

"The girls looked more poised down the stretch and had a strong sense of awareness on how we wanted to close the game," Miller said. "We made a mature run in the fourth quarter and the players made big plays to seal the win. The look in their eyes was sheer determination. They were going to find a way this time."

Goshen sank 6 three-pointers in the final stanza, accounting for 18 of its 19 points in the frame, and opened the quarter on a 15-5 run.

While Bethel's five points came in succession, giving the Pilots a five-point lead as late as the 5:12 mark, the Maple Leafs responded with three treys in as many trips, including two from Prigge. The last 3-pointer by Rauck put Goshen up 80-73 with 3:14 left.

Two empty possessions from each team bled the clock down to 1:27 before Brickner scored twice in 16 seconds to bring the Pilots back within 3 points. Goshen missed a shot to go up by five with 36.8 seconds remaining, but Roe picked off a steal on the ensuing possession and the Leafs ran the clock down to 19 seconds. Bethel would miss a 3-point try before Cockerham sank a free throw with6.6 seconds left to put the game out of reach.

"The atmosphere in our gym in the fourth quarter was electric and our ladies felt the energy of the crowd and really fed off it," Miller said. "I tip my hat to our home crowd, which was awesome and truly a sixth man for us down the stretch.

"We have a lot of work to do to keep making strides to close the gap in this league race, but tonight was our time to break through and I am confident that these girls are ready to fight down the stretch in the final third of the season."

The win moved Goshen into an eighth-place tie in the Crossroads League; the 1-7 Maple Leafs pulled level with Spring Arbor, which lost at Saint Francis. GC and SAU will meet immediately to break their tie: the two schools meet Wednesday night in Michigan.

Goshen also moved within half a point of Bethel in the U.S. Highway 20 Cup standings in the first year of the rivalry trophy: the end of the game marked the midway point of the cup schedule, with Bethel leading 4 points to 3½.

The Maple Leafs return to action Wednesday at Spring Arbor in the game that takes them to the halfway point of the conference schedule. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in the McDonald Athletic Center.