MISHAWAKA, Ind. – The Bethel Pilots women's basketball team was at their peak performance on Saturday afternoon when the Maple Leafs came to Mishawaka. The Pilots won the U.S. Highway 20 Cup matchup 113-75.
 
Bethel's up-tempo, full-court pressure style overwhelmed the Leafs for the first three quarters. In the first quarter alone, Goshen had 13 turnovers, and Bethel had nine steals. Bethel came into the game leading the NAIA in steals per game, and they finished with 23 this afternoon. Another contributing factor to Bethel's early success was that they went a perfect 16-16 from the free-throw line in the first half.
 
Taniece Chapman led Goshen with 16 points and seven rebounds. A bright spot for Goshen was the performances of Sophia Eli and Kiana Oelling off the bench. Eli scored 14 points – a career-high for the sophomore. She made six of her seven attempts from the field and added three rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Oelling, a freshman, scored 12 points, also a career-high. She was 4-6 for the day and made all four free-throw attempts.
 
Goshen (9-11, 3-5 CL) finished with 39 turnovers and shot 11.8% from behind the arc. On the other hand, the Pilots made 15 three-pointers and shot 41.7% from deep. Bethel (8-12, 3-5 CL) has one of the best offenses in the NAIA – ranking sixth in points per game. On Wednesday, they just scored 107 points against #24 Mount Vernon Nazarene and put up 125 against Trinity Christian earlier in the season. Today they had six players score in double figures.
 
Goshen's next match is at home on Wednesday, January 19. They will face Huntington at 7:00 pm in Gunden Gymnasium.