MARION, Ind. — Graysen Cockerham dropped in a team-high 16 points and a game-high-tying 9 rebounds Wednesday night as the Goshen College women's basketball team lost 90-54 to NAIA eighth-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University in a Crossroads League matchup at IWU's Luckey Arena.
Janara Flowers added 12 points and TaNiece Chapman matched Cockerham with 9 rebounds, but the Wildcats outshot the Maple Leafs and added a dozen steals and 13 3-pointers in the victory.
Five Indiana Wesleyan players scored in double figures, led by Dayton Groninger with 20 points and 6 rebounds. Maddie Lawrence scored 14 points and added a game-high 3 steals off the bench.
Indiana Wesleyan (16-4, 9-2) shot 46 percent from the floor and 42 percent from long distance while adding 19 free throws. The Maple Leafs (6-16, 3-9) checked in at 36 percent and 22 percent respectively while adding 17 foul shots of their own.
Goshen finished with 36 rebounds to IWU's 30, but the Wildcats forced 29 turnovers and surrendered the ball just 9 times themselves.
IWU scored the first seven points of the game while holding Goshen without a field goal for nearly four minutes. That lead evaporated faster than it was built, though, as GC answered with a 7-0 run of its own across the minimum three possessions to tie the game on a Flowers triple at 5:21 of the first quarter. The Wildcats then scored the next 12 points and Goshen added the last 6 with Sadre'a Rougeau ending the quarter on a personal 4-0 run.
Indiana Wesleyan's run continued into the second quarter as it sank 5 3-pointers and 6 free throws on its way to 25 points in 10 minutes, including a 12-0 spurt in one 3-minute span. The Wildcats led 44-19 at halftime.
The Maple Leafs scored 35 points after the break, but IWU didn't let up, dropping in seven 3s in 15 tries and going 14-for-27 (52 percent) from the floor. The Wildcats had 8-0 and 10-0 runs in the third quarter and led by as many as 41.
Fourteen Goshen players and 11 Wildcats saw action in the affair.
GC continues a tough road swing on Saturday when it visits fifth-ranked Marian at the Physical Education Center in Indianapolis. The Maple Leafs could clinch at least a tie for the final Crossroads League spot with a win and the Knights could clinch a share of the league title if they prevail, but both of those scenarios require help from other games. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. EST.