GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Queens University of Charlotte scored 10 unanswered goals in the first half as the eighth-ranked Royals defeated Tusculum 22-8 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse Saturday at Pioneer Field.
Kelly Dowd had four goals and four assists and four other players scored three times for the Royals (8-2, 4-0 SAC), who led 13-4 at halftime and finished the match with a 35-16 edge in shots over the Pioneers.
Savannah Elliott led the Pioneers (5-9, 3-3 SAC) with three goals, Hayley Bartlett had two goals and Madison Malone finished with a goal and three assists for Tusculum.
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the first half on a goal by Bartlett, but the Royals responded with 10 goals in a span of 8 minutes, 10 seconds to take control. Dowd had three goals and two assists for Queens during the run, which was broken when Elliott scored three straight goals to bring the Pioneers within 10-4.
After closing the half with three consecutive goals in a span of 44 seconds, the Royals opened the second half by scoring seven of the first eight goals. Ally Blood and Sarah Bell each scored twice for the Royals during the surge, which left Queens with a 20-5 lead with 16:12 left. Brittany Lowery, Eliza Ryan and Bartlett scored for the Pioneers in the final 15 minutes, with the final goal coming with 3:49 to play.
Queens finished with a 20-12 advantage in draw controls over Tusculum, led by six from Alexandra Bruder, five from Aarika Kaester and four from Dowd. Bruder also finished with three goals and an assist for the Royals, as did Blood and Hanna Scott.
Malone, Emily Gleason and Juliette Cusano each had three draw controls for the Pioneers, while Claire Stanton led the team with four ground balls. Queens had a 14-12 edge in ground balls, led by three from Dowd and two apiece from Blood and Jasmin Singh.
Brooke Wagner started in goal for the Pioneers and played 20 1/2 minutes over two stints between the pipes, making three saves. Kaele Lawless saw a total of nine minutes of action and had one save, while Kaitlin Winnie was in goal for 30 1/2 minutes and finished with five stops. Chase Brokaw played the entire match in goal for the Royals and had six saves.
Tusculum will return to the road next Saturday, April 8 with a SAC match at Coker starting at 2 p.m.
