SPRING ARBOR, Mich. - In a game that went back and forth throughout, the Goshen women's basketball team lost to Spring Arbor 81-74 on the road on Wednesday night. The Cougars are receiving votes in the coaches poll and are now 13-3 overall and 4-2 in the Crossroads League.
Goshen shot the ball well in the first quarter, going 7-12, but had eight turnovers in the first ten minutes of action. The Leafs led 17-16 after quarter one but the Cougars were up 31-28 at the half.
Goshen nearly put up as many points in the third quarter alone, outscoring the home team 25-15 in that period. Goshen established an eight point lead, their largest of the night, with 1:12 to go in the third. The Cougars still had yet to make a three after the third quarter.
But after Goshen's eight point lead, Spring Arbor ended the game on a 39-24 run with 35 fourth quarter points. They had 11 two-pointers, two three-pointers and 11 free throws in the fourth. Goshen forced a turnover and got a quick bucket on an inbound pass from
Kyla Foster to
Kiana Oelling to make it a three point game.
Ava Lickliter immediately got a steal on the next play but Foster missed a couple of chances that would have brought the score within one. The Cougars hit their free throws late to win by seven.
Zoe Zellers had a strong showing with a season-high 16 points and seven rebounds, with five of them on the offensive end. She made six of her eight shots.
Kiana Oelling had 13 points and four rebounds and
Syanne Mohamed had ten points but fouled out with seven turnovers. Oelling and Mohamed each had three blocks and Zellers had one as Goshen shut down the Cougars in that category 7-0.
Kyla Foster had eight points and a season-high seven assists,
Zion Neat had 13 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, and
Ava Lickliter had seven points and three assists.
The Cougars beat #14 Rio Grande earlier this year and lost to #6 Marian in overtime. Alana Nelson, the second-leading scorer and rebounder in the Crossroads League, finished the evening with 25 points and eight rebounds.
Goshen is now 3-3 in the Crossroads League and hosts Taylor on Saturday, January 13, at 1:00 pm.
