UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. - A strong final three quarters made the difference for the Goshen women's basketball team as they took down Trinity Christian 65-56 in the Jaguars Winter Classic held at Governors State University on Thursday. They ended a seven-game losing streak in their first game in 11 days.

The Leafs struggled in the first seven minutes of the game as the Trolls built up a double-digit lead at 14-4. "We started slow and put ourselves in a hole early," shared head coach Stephanie Miller, "but I liked the way we settled down and climbed our way back. It took better defense, team rebounding, and setting teammates up with good looks by sharing the ball."

Goshen strung together a 14-0 run between the first and second quarters, capped off by a three from Zion Neat that made the score 18-14 in favor of Goshen. Trinity Christian never took the lead for the remainder of the half.

GC took a six-point lead in the third quarter, lost it, and then regained it again. The Trolls took a lead shortly into the fourth quarter and had a three-point advantage with five minutes to go. However, the Leafs ended the game on a 13-1 run and went 10-12 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. They ended with a nine-point margin at 65-56.

"I felt we controlled the final three minutes of the game with good defensive stops, forcing them into one-and-done shots, and hitting clutch free throws down the stretch," said Miller. "We made too many mistakes with the basketball and need to keep working on cleaning that up, but we didn't make mistakes down the stretch and that was the difference."

Zion Neat had 24 points and hit four three-pointers. She had four rebounds, two assists, and just one turnover in 38 minutes of play. Syanne Mohamed scored 14 points with eight rebounds and two steals in 23 minutes. Goshen won the rebound margin by 13. The Maple Leafs shot 80% from the free throw line and held the Trolls to shooting 1-13 from deep. Miller mentioned that the team has been working to take the tough lessons from their losing skid and turning them into successful learning experiences. "Today we used some of that knowledge to get a solid road win as a team," she said.

It is a quick turnaround for Goshen, as they play the host, Governors State, on Friday. "The quick turnarounds and preps challenge the team to stay focused and prepares us for the postseason format when we earn our spot back there," Miller noted. The Leafs square off with the Jaguars at 4:00 pm ET right back at University Park, Ill. They are back to conference play on January 4, against Taylor at home.