ELGIN, Ill. — Goshen College never trailed Wednesday afternoon in a 58-39 women's basketball victory over Judson University at the Lindner Fitness Center.
Graysen Cockerham led all scorers with 15 points, TaNiece Chapman had 14 and Janara Flowers added 13 to account for more than three-fourths of the Maple Leafs' scoring. Keyaira Murff led all players with 9 rebounds as Goshen (2-6) cruised to a 47-31 edge on the glass.
Judson (2-5) got 10 points from Daija Pruitt and 8 from Sydnie Wolf, but shot just 26 percent (15-for-57) from the floor and 11 percent (2-for-19) from 3-point range. The Maple Leafs clocked in at 42 percent and 27 percent respectively.
Cockerham finished with 7 rebounds and TaNiece Chapman added 6 while Dani McCauley had 5 to lead Judson. GC's Cockerham and JU's Kayela Willis each had a game-high 3 assists while Cockerham, Murff and Pruitt blocked shots.
The Maple Leafs took the first lead of the game 30 seconds in on a Murff jumper following Cockerham's offensive rebound, the first of 17 times GC would clean up its own mess. Willis tied the score for Judson at the 7:09 mark, but it would take less than 15 seconds for Flowers to answer that on the other end and the game was never tied again.
Goshen jumped to a 14-6 lead and held that margin to the end of the quarter at 19-11. Judson connected on the first three baskets of the second period and finished the quarter on a 6-0 run, closing within 24-23 at the halftime intermission.
The Maple Leafs did not let their hosts hang around long, though, making their first seven field goals in the third quarter on the way to a 19-point stanza. An 11-2 run started the quarter and included 6 points from Chapman as the lead ballooned into double figures.
GC held the Eagles to six points in the fourth quarter as Flowers extended the lead to 15 points with the first basket and the visitors led by as many as 20.
All told, 13 Maple Leafs saw at least three minutes in the game.
The victory came in Goshen's first game of a three-game-in-four-day stretch leading into Christmas break. The team is scheduled to host the University of Rio Grande on Friday at 5 p.m. before closing its fall schedule Saturday at 3 p.m. against Indiana University South Bend.
More, including comments from Goshen coach Stephanie Miller, to come when available.
