HICKORY, N.C. --- The Tusculum College women's lacrosse team suffered its first loss in program history on Sunday, falling to Lenoir-Rhyne University by a score of 17-4 in South Atlantic Conference action in Hickory, North Carolina. Freshman attacker Savannah Elliot led the Pioneers (2-1, 0-1 SAC) with two goals.

Freshman midfielder Erin Sims and senior midfielder Kelsey Crow also had a goal for TC. Sophomore midfielder Calyn Kelly had a game-high five draw controls, and led the Pioneers with four ground balls while registering an assist. Freshman midfielder Madison Malone tallied three ground balls while causing a turnover.

Lenoir-Rhyne (1-2, 1-0) was led by Lauren Donovan who registered nine points on four goals and five assists. Kristen Smith also scored four goals and had an assist, while Torrey Schwitkis, Claire Wach, and Kaitlyn Karp all tallied a pair of goals. Wach finished with four points after assisting on two scores.

Freshman goalie Brooke Wagner (1-1) was dealt the loss in goal despite seven saves. Ines Flueck (1-1) earned the victory in the cage after making just two saves. The Bears out-shot the Pioneers 33-9 and caused 15 of TC's 26 turnovers. LR also held a 32-16 advantage in ground balls.

The Bears opened the game with eight unanswered goals before Elliott put the Pioneers on the scoreboard with her first goal of the game off an assist by Kelly at the 13:57 mark of the first half. Elliott scored the final goal of the half, and her seventh of the season, but LR took a 12-1 lead into the halftime locker room.

LR opened the second period with three-straight goals to take a 15-1 lead, but Crow recorded her 10th goal of the season to make the score 15-2 with just under 17 minutes remaining. After another Bear tally, Sims put the ball past Fluek on a free-position attempt for her second goal of the season, which made the score 16-4 with 9:25 remaining. Lenoir-Rhyne scored one more goal in the game's final nine minutes to claim the 13-goal victory.

Tusculum will be back in action on Wednesday night at Pioneer Field to take on the University of Virginia at Wise. First draw is set for 5 p.m.