GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Rachel Holmes scored a career-high seven goals, including the 100th of her career, and Bailey Lowery dished out seven assists as Tusculum University defeated Newberry College 19-13 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
Holmes became the third player in school history to reach the 100-goal milestone on a goal late in the first half, then added three straight late in the second half to move into second place on the career goal list with 103. Lowery assisted on five of Holmes' seven goals to set a new career high.
Brittany Lowery had four goals and an assist for the Pioneers (3-8, 1-2 SAC), Juliette Cusano contributed three goals and two assists and Emily Youngblood scored three times in the win for Tusculum, while Eliza Ryan had a pair of goals as the Pioneers trailed briefly in the first half before scoring five straight goals to take the lead for good.
Chloe Wood led the Wolves (2-9, 0-4 SAC) with eight goals and Rachel Dillon added three goals, but Newberry was outshot 34-27 by Tusculum in the game. The Pioneers finished with a 19-14 edge in draw controls despite Wood finishing with a game-high 11 by herself.
Wood scored the first goal of the afternoon just under 2 1/2 minutes into the first half, but Youngblood tied the score just over two minutes later. Holmes then scored back-to-back, followed by goals from Ryan and Cusano 14 seconds apart to give the Pioneers a 5-1 lead with 22:25 left in the first half. Two more goals by Wood were answered by Ryan and Youngblood, followed by the third of the day from Holmes for an 8-3 Tusculum lead with 15:49 to go in the half.
Newberry fought back as Dillon and Sophie Moore scored 23 seconds apart to bring the Wolves back within 8-5. Tusculum would score three of the final four goals of the first half, with two coming from Brittany Lowery as the Pioneers led 11-6 at intermission.
Tusculum led 13-7 with 27:27 remaining as Cusano and Brittany Lowery sandwiched a goal from Newberry's Dillon, but Wood scored four straight goals in a span of 5:35 to cut the Pioneer lead to 13-11 with 20:10 to go. The Pioneers responded with three of the next four goals, coming from Brittany Lowery, Cusano and Youngblood, to go ahead 16-12 with 15:54 to play. Holmes then scored three goals in a row -- all assisted by Bailey Lowery -- as Tusculum led 19-12 with 3:03 left. Angel Roberson scored at the final buzzer for Newberry to set the final margin.
Cusano and Brittany Lowery shared the team lead with seven draw controls apiece for the Pioneers, while Youngblood had three and Holmes two. Brittany Lowery also led Tusculum with five ground balls, with four by Hailey Sanders and three each by Youngblood and Cusano. Sanders and Holmes shared the team lead with two caused turnovers.
For Newberry, Adara Garner led the team with four ground balls and Megan McCormick and Wood had two caused turnovers apiece.
Tusculum was successful on 17-of-19 clear attempts, while Newberry was good on 17-of-22 clears. The Wolves were 5-for-9 on free-position shots, with all five goals from Wood, and the Pioneers were 4-for-7 as a team.
Kate Pipkin played all 60 minutes in goal for Tusculum and had six saves. For Newberry, Brandy Bowman had seven saves in the first half and Casey McCabe made six stops in the second half.
Tusculum will be on the road Tuesday evening at Mars Hill for a SAC contest beginning at 6 p.m.
