SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – At the end of the first quarter, the Spring Arbor Cougars had just two points on the scoreboard. The Goshen women's basketball team had a solid defensive effort in the first half, allowing the Cougars to score just 12 points by halftime. Goshen went on to win 59-49.
"We really focused on making sure that our defense and rebounding was the highest priority today," said head coach
Stephanie Miller. "We were outstanding defensively in the first half, which set the tone for us." The Maple Leafs won the rebounding category 38-27 and led for 39 minutes and 22 seconds.
It was 11-2 at the end of the first, and 26-12 by halftime. Goshen had six players that had at least eight points each –
Taniece Chapman,
Sa'drea Rougeau,
Graysen Cockerham,
Kyla Foster,
Syanne Mohamed, and
Suzanna Yoder. "I thought Sa'drea and Suzanna each gave us a spark today," Miller shared. "I really liked seeing more balance in the overall contributions today." Six players had at least three rebounds, and 11 players had at least one.
With the win, Goshen sweeps the season series with Spring Arbor and has won three straight against them. It also ends the four-game losing streak that the Maple Leafs were on.
Coach Miller emphasized that the depth of the Maple Leafs will be critical down the stretch. "When nearly five players are in double digits, and different people step up each night, it's so much harder for defenses to know who to key in on," she mentioned. "We need different players to step up and fill big roles for us. That's what happened today, and it was the recipe for success on the road."
Cockerham had six rebounds and five assists to go along with her nine points. Today she passed Kris Johnson to move into ninth-place on the all-time scoring list – now with 1,296 career points. Rougeau recorded four steals, and Chapman had five rebounds, with four of them coming on the offensive end.
Goshen has two challenging home games coming up. On Wednesday, February 2, the Leafs take on #11 Indiana Wesleyan at 7:00 pm. Then on Saturday, February 5, the #6 Marian Knights come to Gunden Gymnasium for a 1:00 pm tipoff.
