RICHMOND, Ind. — Graysen Cockerham and Janara Flowers each scored 15 points while TaNiece Chapman led all players with 16 rebounds in a rare Sunday afternoon game, but the Goshen College women's basketball team lost 61-54 to Shawnee State University at Indiana University East.
Cockerham and Chapman combined to go 11-for-22 from the floor while Flowers was a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line, leading Goshen in an 11-for-13 (85 percent) effort in that category. Chapman's rebounding domination helped pace a 44-35 advantage for the Maple Leafs on the glass.
Brandie Snow led all scorers with 22 points for Shawnee State (4-0), going 9-for-19 from the floor and 4-of-6 at the foul line. Carson Roney added 10 points and 9 rebounds, coming one board short of a double-double to match Chapman.
The Bears, the ninth-ranked team in the NAIA, shot just 13 percent (2-for-16) from long range and 50 percent (11-for-22). The defense made up for it by forcing 32 turnovers and scoring 20 points off them. Goshen checked in at 33 percent (18-for-55) from the floor and 50 percent (7-for-14) from distance.
Goshen (0-2) jumped to a 7-2 lead in the first two minutes, getting five points from Cockerham and two from Mariah Roe, and would not trail until Bethany Mackin scored with 31 seconds left in the quarter to put SSU on top. Four seconds later, Keyaira Murff sank two free throws to tie the game and the score was 14-14 at the quarter.
The Bears opened the second quarter on a 7-3 run before Flowers tied the game with two free throws at the 6:33 mark. Neither team led by more than 3 points in the rest of the half and it was 30-30 at the intermission.
Shawnee State scored 22 points in the 10 minutes of the third quarter, scoring 18 of those in the paint and one just outside the paint at the foul line. After Goshen led 37-36 with 5:15 remaining, Snow scored seven points and Roney four in an 11-3 Bear run to go up 47-40.
Goshen scored eight straight points in a 2:30 span in the fourth quarter, but that came just after Shawnee State had stretched the lead out to 14 at 60-46.
The teams combined to miss their final seven shots from the floor.
The win made Shawnee State the only undefeated team in the IU East First Bank Richmond Classic, with the hosts going 1-1 and Goshen 0-2. The scheduled four-team event became a three-team round-robin when Olivet Nazarene University withdrew this week.
Following the cancellation of the Hoops for Hope Classic at Grace College, the Maple Leafs' next scheduled game is Tuesday, Nov. 17 against Rio Grande. However, since the cancellations created open dates on Goshen's schedule, the GC staff is attempting to arrange makeup contests next weekend. As always, stay tuned to GoLeafs.net for the latest developments throughout the season.
