GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Erin Sims scored five goals and Tusculum College used an 11-goal run to defeat Newberry College 18-3 in South Atlantic Conference Women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Park.
Savannah Elliott scored four goals and Madison Malone added a goal and five assists as the Pioneers (7-1, 2-0 SAC) shut out the Wolves (4-3, 1-1 SAC) for a span of nearly 39 minutes as they turned a 4-2 lead into a 15-2 advantage.
Cheyenne Bray contributed three goals for the Pioneers, while Rachel Holmes had two goals and two assists and Calyn Kelly added a goal and a pair of assists. Kelsey Crow netted two goals and an assist as Tusculum outshot Newberry 38-15 in the game.
Sims, who scored her five goals on five total shots, opened the scoring with a free-position goal 3:07 into the opening half. Newberry tied the scored 3 1/2 minutes later on a goal by Jessica Baxtrom, but the Pioneers went ahead 5-2 as Crow, Sims and Bray scored over a span of five minutes.
Kylee Shoop pulled the Wolves within 4-2 on a goal with 16:00 left in the first half, but Sims and Elliott scored nine seconds apart to extend the Pioneer lead to 6-2. Elliott scored again less than 90 seconds later as the Pioneers went on top 7-2 with 10:04 left in the half, and carried the margin all the way to halftime.
Tusculum struck quickly in the second half, as two goals from Elliott and one each from Sims and Malone gave the Pioneers an 11-2 lead with 23:00 remaining. Tusculum would add to the run as Holmes scored twice, with Crow and Kelly also tallying, to go ahead 15-2 with 10:20 left.
Maddie Campbell scored for the Wolves with 7:04 left to break their scoring drought at 38 minutes, 56 seconds, but Bray had two goals and Sims one in the final six minutes for the Pioneers, all off assists from Malone.
In addition to her two goals and assist, Crow had a team-high six ground balls and also finished with three draw controls. Shelby Gray had four ground balls, three caused turnovers and a pair of draw controls for the Pioneers, with Sims recording three draw controls and two ground balls.
For Newberry, Katie Thompson had four ground balls and three draw controls, while Campbell and Ajahna Grosvenor had two caused turnovers apiece. As a team, Newberry had 25 turnovers and went 11-for-19 on clears. The Wolves also won just eight of 23 draws and collected 16 ground balls to 26 for Tusculum.
Tusculum goalkeeper Brooke Wagner finished with five saves in the victory, while Newberry's Brandy Bowman tallied 12 stops in the loss. The Pioneers put 30 of their 38 shot attempts on goal, while the Wolves had eight of their 15 shots on goal as a team.
The Pioneers will return to action next Saturday, March 19 when they host Lenoir-Rhyne University at Pioneer Field in a South Atlantic Conference matchup, beginning at 12 noon.
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