GAFFNEY, S.C. --- Limestone University earned its seventh straight victory with a 19-6 win over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.
The Saints (8-2, 4-1 SAC) received goals from 12 different players, including three apiece from Sarah Dudick, Alexa Versaci and Rylee Johnson, and outshot the Pioneers (3-6, 1-3 SAC) by a 30-11 margin.
Tia Daniel scored two goals for the Pioneers, with a goal and an assist apiece from Lucy Brewer and Kamryn McNeil. Emma Miller and Abby Lockwood also scored for Tusculum, which had goals on each of its six shots on goal in the match.
Limestone opened the scoring 1:11 into the first quarter on a goal by Reese Hjertaas and added three goals in a span of 80 seconds to build a 4-0 lead after the opening period. The Saints led 5-0 before the Pioneers got on the board on a free-position goal from McNeil with 8:23 left in the half. Limestone went up 8-1 with 3:20 remaining before the Pioneers scored back-to-back from Daniel and Brewer to cut the margin to 8-3 with 2:27 to play. However, the Saints scored twice in the final two minutes to go ahead 10-3 at intermission.
Limestone collected the first four goals of the third quarter to go on top 14-3 with 6:47 left. Lockwood would bring the Pioneers back within 14-4 with 2:45 to go, but the Saints collected the final goal of the frame to carry a 15-4 lead into the fourth. The Saints' lead would grow to 19-4 with 2:55 left, until the Pioneers received goals from Daniel and Miller in the final 90 seconds to set the final margin.
Daniel led Tusculum with seven draw controls and two caused turnovers, while McNeil had two ground balls for the Pioneers and Brewer had four draw controls. Bailey Stumpf led the Limestone defense with four ground balls and four caused turnovers, while Dudick had five draw controls to lead the Saints.
Tusculum had a 14-13 advantage in draw controls over Limestone, while the Saints had a 15-8 edge in ground balls. The Pioneers had 22 turnovers to 17 for the Saints, with Limestone going 8-for-12 on free-position shots and Tusculum 1-for-3.
Kari Ham played the first half in goal for Tusculum and made three saves, with one save for Emily White in the second half. Kyleigh Eaton played all 60 minutes for Limestone between the pipes and had no saves.
Tusculum will host Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Railsplitters moved to 5-6 overall and 1-3 in the SAC with an 18-2 rout of Coker.
