GOSHEN, Ind. – The Maple Leafs women's basketball team looked for a second win over a top 15 team this week. The #6 Marian Knights were looking for a 20^th straight win this season. The game came down to the final seconds, but the Knights prevailed 60-54. They are now 22-2 this season and a perfect 14-0 in the Crossroads League.
 
Goshen led 7-5 early on. And despite the game being close throughout and tied at multiple points, this would be Goshen's last lead. Marian led 20-15 at the end of the first, but it took a while for both teams to put one in the basket when they resumed in the second quarter. Kyla Foster ended the drought with a bucket with 6:43 to go in the quarter, and Sa'drea Rougeau scored off a steal not long after to put GC within one. At the break, the Knights held a narrow 28-24 advantage.
 
The visitors took the lead to six points in the third before the Maple Leafs tied it twice. Marian had a 54-47 lead with under four minutes to go in the fourth, but Goshen's 7-0 run in one minute and twenty-five seconds tied it up. Unfortunately, the Leafs couldn't make a couple of big plays at the end, and Marian survived in Goshen.
 
"We may have come up short," head coach Stephanie Miller shared, "but I think our kids were terrific this week, and we are playing pretty good basketball right now."
 
Taniece Chapman had another dominant performance. The senior scored 20 points and hauled in 16 rebounds. She recently moved into the top-five list of all-time leading scorers in program history. Chapman has scored in double-digits in 24 of her 25 games this season. "Taniece Chapman was the best player on the floor today," Miller remarked. "The combination of scoring big and timely buckets for us all game and just really owning the glass was really impressive."
 
Graysen Cockerham scored 11, and Syanne Mohamed had eight points and eight rebounds – all on the offensive end. Despite being her first game without a defensive rebound, she tied her season-high with the eight offensive boards.
 
The most crucial part of keeping Goshen in this game was controlling rebounds and forcing tough shots for Marian. The Maple Leafs outrebounded the Knights 46-29. They also held the number one shooting team in the NAIA to a 41.5% field goal percentage – nearly 9% lower than their season average. On Tuesday this week, Marian had scored 115 against Bethel. They had just 52% of that total tonight.
 
"Marian is too efficient of a shooting team to allow second opportunities," said Miller, "so we really focused on making sure we collected every miss to keep them in check on the scoreboard. I really thought we did a great job of that!"
 
Goshen (11-14, 5-8 CL) is on the road this Wednesday, February 9, against Grace at 6:00 pm. Next Saturday, February 12, you can join us as the Leafs take on Mount Vernon Nazarene at 1:00 pm in Gunden Gymnasium.