The Goshen College women’s basketball team looked promising in the first half of Saturday’s game at home against Spring Arbor, taking a twelve-point lead with 9:40 left and leading 32-27 at half-time. However, key shots throughout the second half did not fall, as the Maple Leafs lost 66-63 in overtime.

The Maple Leafs had a strong start in the first half, shooting 42 percent and out-rebounding Spring Arbor 27-14. With 13 minutes left in the first half, the Maple Leafs were able to find a rhythm and made an 8-0 run capped by a Sam Hawk three-pointer to help the team gain a 21-9 lead.

However, the Maple Leafs went cold in the second half. The Leafs made just 5 of 29 field goal attempts after the intermission. Spring Arbor capitalized, going on a 15-3 run to take the lead at 37-34. Until that point, Goshen had led for 20 consecutive minutes. Spring Arbor pulled ahead with 16:35 to play and held the lead until the final two minutes.

First-year forward Jaime Stack grabbed a momentum-changing offensive rebound and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, giving Goshen a 56-55 lead. After a Spring Arbor turnover and foul, Stack made one of two free throws before Spring Arbor tied the game from the charity stripe. On Goshen’s final possession in regulation, senior guard Kari Heusinkveld drove with the ball, but her shot went in and out, and the game went into overtime.

In the extra session, Spring Arbor opened the scoring with a 5-0 run in the first 90 seconds. Goshen pulled within one point on a basket by senior guard Kaylee Hilliker with 21 seconds to play, but Heusinkveld’s final shot was no good as Spring Arbor picked up their third Mid-Central Conference win. The Maple Leafs finished the game with a season-high 57 rebounds, but shot just 30 percent from the floor.

The Maple Leafs returned to the floor Wednesday night in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in a 57-79 loss to Mount Vernon Nazarene.

Stack led the Maple Leafs with 16 points and nine rebounds. Goshen shot 47.6 percent from the field and were out rebounded 33-43.

Goshen will be back in action Saturday afternoon against Taylor University in Gunden Gymnasium. The Trojans are 14-7 on the season, 4-5 in conference play, after a win at Spring Arbor last night. Goshen is 3-18, 0-9 in the MCC.

The teams have met once this season, as Hawk led Goshen with a double-double in a 63-44 Taylor win in Upland on Tuesday, Nov. 22. Following Saturday’s game, Goshen hosts traditional rival Bethel College in a doubleheader with the men next Tuesday, Jan. 24.