NOTRE DAME, Ind. — TaNiece Chapman went on a personal 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to give the Goshen College women's basketball team the lead and Janara Flowers made the free throw to close out the game Wednesday evening as the Maple Leafs topped Holy Cross College 71-69 at McKenna Arena in the Pfeil Center.
Chapman finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points to go with a game-high 12 rebounds, and Flowers hit a pair of 3-pointers to match her teammate with 15 points. Graysen Cockerham finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 12 points and 9 boards along with two game-high totals, 4 assists and three steals.
Arielle Thatcher led all scorers with 24 points, canning four 3-pointers to lead all players, while Jayda Miller had 16 points and 11 rebounds while going a perfect 7-for-7 at the foul line for the Saints (3-4). Miller also led the team with 3 assists and 3 steals.
Goshen (3-8) grabbed 43 rebounds and forced 17 turnovers, getting 11 steals as Mariah Roe and Sadre'a Rougeau each had multiple takeaways as well.-
The Maple Leafs didn't score for more than three minutes after the opening tip, but Roe hit two of the first four field goals as the team went up 9-3 in the opening quarter. Holy Cross countered with its own 6-0 run to tie the score at 11 before Chapman broke the deadlock with the last bucket of the quarter.
The second quarter made up for the first's lack of scoring as the two teams combined for 47 points in 10 minutes. HCC made three of its first five field goals from beyond the 3-point arc to go up 26-19 before Goshen answered with 17 points over the last seven minutes, including six points from three scorers in a 40-second span to lead 36-35 at the intermission.
The teams traded baskets early in the third quarter before Chapman and Cockerham scored on back-to-back possessions to put GC up 47-42 at the 5:24 mark. Holy Cross went more than six minutes with just one field goal to show as the Maple Leafs pulled ahead 55-46, but the Saints scored the last five points of the quarter to get within four at 55-51.
All told, it was 11-2 Holy Cross run across the quarter break to tie the score at 57 with 8:23 remaining. After seven straight misses, Rougeau put GC ahead at the 6:52 mark only for Sara White to answer on the other end 18 seconds later. A Miller triple put the Saints in front, starting a 9-4 run that ended with a 68-63 lead and 3:31 to play.
Chapman took over from there, going 3-for-4 from the floor with 4 rebounds over the next 2:14 to put Goshen up a point. In that span, the Saints missed four shots and turned the ball over twice. A third turnover gave the ball back to GC in the final minute before Holy Cross missed a go-ahead three with 26 seconds left.
Chapman made a foul shot with 23 seconds left to go up 70-69; Thatcher made one of two on the other end and Flowers redoubled the lead at the 0:07 mark. On its last possession, Holy Cross turned the ball over.
Goshen shot 42 percent (27-for-65) overall and 46 percent (13-for-28) at the foul line, but got the job done by holding its foe to 37 percent (22-for-59). Holy Cross made 8 threes and 17 free throws.
Goshen will close out its non-conference schedule and ring in 2021 on Saturday with a visit to Trinity International University in Bannockburn, Illinois. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. EST at Van Dixhorn Arena.
