By: Tony Miller
AVON, Ohio — Goshen College junior TaNiece Chapman, a forward on the Maple Leaf women's basketball team, was named the Crossroads League player of the week in women's basketball for the week of January 11-17.
Chapman, a Fort Wayne, Indiana, native, shot 55 percent from the floor last week and dropped in 17.7 points per game, scoring at least 14 points in all three games. Her best showing in terms of points and rebounds came Monday when she had a double-double — 21 points and 12 boards — against ninth-ranked Marian. Her final rebound of the game on Saturday was the 600th of her career, making her the sixth Maple Leaf to reach that plateau.
The Maple Leafs went 2-1 last week, including wins over local rivals Grace and Bethel on Wednesday and Saturday respectively, and sit at 5-12 for the season. The team plays Saint Francis twice this week, Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Fort Wayne and Saturday at 1 p.m. in Goshen.
For the season, Chapman leads the Maple Leafs with 13.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in addition to shooting 53 percent from the floor. She needs 104 points to reach 1,000 for her career.
The award is Goshen's third Crossroads League nod of the season after Nelson Kemboi was men's cross country Runner of the Week on Nov. 9 and Simon Graber Miller was the men's track and field Field Athlete of the Week on Nov. 23. Chapman was also the last GC athlete to win an Athlete of the Week award in basketball, taking home the honor on Nov. 11, 2019.
The Crossroads League selects an Athlete of the Week each week in all 18 conference-sponsored sports. The awards are based on nominations and voting from the league's 10 sports information directors.