This past Saturday, women’s basketball lost to Taylor 79-72, falling to 8-10 overall, and 3-5 in conference play.
Kyla Foster led the team with 15 points, filling the box score with 11 rebounds and 5 assists as well. Her 5 offensive rebounds helped Goshen to outscore Taylor 11-8 on second chance opportunities.“I felt good about it,” she said. “I wish we could’ve come out with a W, of course, but it felt good being the motor of it while we were down and just trying to keep us together.”
Taylor started the game on an 8-0 run; however, Goshen fought back with defensive intensity and tenacity on the glass, tying the game 14-14 with two free-throws from Foster.
The second quarter started with a 18-4 Taylor run within the first five minutes; by halftime, the lead was trimmed to 37-29, sparked by two baskets by Foster in the final two minutes.
Plagued by a few turnovers and quick Taylor buckets, Goshen yet again allowed a run going into the third quarter, facing a 14-point deficit by 7:52. For the next few minutes, they began mounting a comeback. Syanne Mohamed recorded two straight baskets, both assisted by Sophia Eli; Mohamed then recorded a steal, leading to an eventual Zoe Zellers putback that cut the Taylor lead to 8.
Mohamed finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks; Zellers had eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
By the end of the third quarter, Taylor led 56-49. Despite hot starts by Taylor in the previous three quarters, Goshen came in strong in the fourth quarter; after trading baskets, a three pointer hit by Ava Lickliter at around the five minute mark brought the Leafs within three. Lickliter finished the game with 10 points.
Unfortunately, the shot was followed by three straight Goshen turnovers, including two offensive fouls and a technical foul, giving Taylor a nine-point lead that proved to be insurmountable.
“It was a really good game between two really good teams,” Montasia McAllister said, “and I feel like it was a battle till the end, and we just came short.”
Three point shooting was an area of success. Despite a season percentage of 30.5, the Leafs hit 9 of 17 against Taylor. McAllister was particularly impressive, hitting 4 of her 6 three-point tries. She also had three steals.
“I do feel really good about my defensive performance,” she said. “I would say a strategy of mine would specifically be trying to think ahead of the offensive team; trying to think where they’re going to pass the ball next or anticipate where the ball is gonna go and then try to use my length to get good tips or get a steal.”
The women’s team has already eclipsed last season’s win totals both in-conference and overall; however, an early-season eight-game winning streak has been followed by seven consecutive losses.
“As a team, our goal is to continue to believe in ourselves,” Foster said. “We went on our winning streak, and it hasn’t been so good [recently], but just keeping our composure and staying together.”
Wednesday evening, Goshen fell 91-61 to No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan University.
