GOSHEN, Ind. – Freshman Kyla Foster had a career day as the Goshen women's basketball team lost a tight contest with Saint Francis (Ind.) 73-70.
 
Foster shot 67% from the field and was 6-7 from the charity stripe as she went on to score 19 points. The most she had scored in a game this season before this outing was five points. Foster also delivered two steals, four rebounds, and four assists.
 
The Maple Leafs began to separate from the Cougars in the second quarter by going on a 13-2 run and getting to a 31-19 lead. However, Saint Francis closed the half on a 13-0 run right after that and led by one at the break.
 
An 8-1 run in the third quarter gave Goshen a seven point lead but USF was able to retaliate yet again and took a two point lead to the fourth quarter. With under five minutes to go, the teams were tied at 60. But baskets by Cassidy Crawford and three pointers from Chloe McKnight and Sidney Crowe helped Saint Francis to power past Goshen and leave with a 73-70 victory.
 
Alongside Foster, Syanne Mohamed had a great game off the bench. The freshman had a season-high 12 points in just 17 minutes on the court. "Kyla and Syanne stepped up today to give us a lift on both ends of the floor," head coach Stephanie Miller remarked. "Both hit some big baskets and Kyla attacked their defense. Both set up teammates for scores as well as finished baskets or free throws."

Graysen Cockerham scored 12 and TaNiece Chapman had 11. Kiana Oelling led the team with seven rebounds. "She deserves a ton of credit for coming in and filling a defensive role we needed today," said Miller. "She did an outstanding job shutting down Cassidy Crawford - their All-Conference mobile forward." Janara Flowers came off the bench to score nine.
 
As a team, Goshen particularly shot well in the third quarter – making 60% of those shots. Goshen was able to score 18 of their 21 points that quarter in the paint. A key difference in the game was that Saint Francis scored 15 points off turnovers in the second half of the game while Goshen had none.

"We came up with some big baskets in the closing minutes," Miller said, "but we struggled to get stops against their isolations so we traded baskets way too much. Give credit to USF for finishing down the stretch. I felt this was a very competitive Crossroads League battle, and though we need to learn fast, I think we got better today. I want us to learn from these tough lessons early so that we can become the team we want to be in January!"
 
Saint Francis (4-3, 1-0 CL) has now won three straight road games. Goshen (3-5, 0-1 CL) is next in action on Tuesday, November 23 at Taylor. That game is set for a 5:00 pm tipoff. The next time Goshen will be at home is on December 4^th at 1:00 pm in a doubleheader with the men against Spring Arbor.