Five Maple Leafs in double digits in classic finale victory

Lynnia Noel led all scorers with 24 points and was one of five Maple Leafs to hit double digits as the Goshen College women’s basketball team played to an 89-81 victory over the Cincinnati Christian University Eagles Saturday afternoon.

Noel was electric from the start, scoring eight points and dishing out four assists to lead the Maple Leafs in the first 10 minutes of action. However, it was the Eagles (2-6) taking a 30-27 lead into the first break.

After a combined 57 points in the first stanza, struggles from the floor rendered a much lower scoring second quarter. Goshen (4-3) held Cincinnati Christian to 1-of-16 (6 percent) shooting, the one bucket from LeTisha Caldwell. Caitlyn O’Neal recorded six points as the Maple Leafs shot 5-of-16 (31 percent) and took a 40-39 advantage into the halftime break.

Goshen saw seven players enter the scorebook in the third stanza, as the Maple Leafs extended their lead to 66-60 with only 10 minutes remaining. Caldwell tallied nine points for the Eagles to lead all scorers, while Noel had six for the Goshen.

With the game close but still in Goshen’s favor in the final minutes, the fourth quarter saw plenty of trips to the free throw line; the team was shooting 59 percent from the charity stripe so far this season. The Maple Leafs were up to the challenge, as Noel, O’Neal, Sophie Sears and Alyson Prigge combined to convert 13-of-14 free tosses en route to an 89-81 final score.

The Maple Leafs finished with 25 assists, their second-highest clip this season behind 27 against Brescia last weekend. Noel finished with 24 points and two steals to lead Goshen, followed by O’Neal with 20 points, Sears and Gabby Williams with 12 points apiece, and Calla Bartlett with 10 points. Williams and Prigge led the Maple Leafs with seven rebounds each, as the team out-rebounded the Eagles 37-to-30.

The Goshen women were back in action at Indiana University Northwest on Wednesday, however the game against the RedHawks did not finish before print. The Maple Leafs have the weekend off before starting their conference season with a doubleheader on Tuesday at Huntington with the men tipping at 6 p.m. followed by the women around 8 p.m.