CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Hanna Scott scored five goals and added three assists, all in the first half, as 17th-ranked Queens defeated Tusculum 23-4 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Dickson Field.
Katie Wardle had four goals and two assists and Sydney Lear added three goals and an assist for the Royals (3-7, 2-1 SAC), who were coming off their first-ever SAC loss on Wednesday against Lenoir-Rhyne. Ten different players scored goals for Queens, which scored 16 consecutive goals in a span of 26 minutes, 55 seconds.
Emily Gleason scored two goals and Megann McKinney and Eliza Ryan scored one goal apiece for the shorthanded Pioneers (2-8, 0-2 SAC), who were missing three of their top four scorers from the lineup against the Royals.
Tusculum opened the scoring just 54 seconds into the first half on a goal by McKinney, but Scott's first goal of the day nearly four minutes later opened the floodgates for the Royals. A surge of six goals in five minutes midway through the half helped propel the Royals to a 14-1 lead at halftime, with Queens outshooting Tusculum 24-6 in the opening half.
Queens added two more goals to start the second half before Ryan ended the Tusculum scoring drought with 24:13 left. Gleason added a pair of free-position goals with 12:15 left and 4:14 to play to close out the scoring for the Pioneers.
Allison Conn led Queens with six draw controls and also had three goals, two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Taylor Quade added three ground balls along with two goals and an assist, and Cammy Case finished with three caused turnovers, three draw controls and a pair of ground balls for the Royals.
Hailey Sanders led Tusculum with four draw controls, with three apiece for McKinney and Ryan. Bailey Lowery, Linden Perkins and Christen Craig each had a pair of ground balls and a caused turnovers for the Pioneers, who had 15 turnovers to 12 for the Royals. Queens also had a 16-11 edge in draw controls and a 20-9 advantage in ground balls.
Brooke Wagner started in goal for the Pioneers and recorded five saves in 44 minutes, 43 seconds of action. Kaele Lawless was between the pipes for 15 minutes, 17 seconds for Tusculum with one save. For Queens, Chase Brokaw made four saves in 48 minutes, 12 seconds of playing time and Sara Mitrecic had two saves in the final 11:48.
Tusculum will look to get back into the win column on Wednesday when the Pioneers host first-year program Mars Hill on 6 p.m. at Pioneer Field.