HICKORY, N.C. --- Lenoir-Rhyne University scored seven straight goals while holding Tusculum University scoreless for the final 19 1/2 minutes as the Bears claimed a 14-9 victory in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Monday night at Moretz Stadium.
Suzy Smith scored four goals and Cathleen Gaffney contributed two goals and four assists for the Bears (4-4, 3-2 SAC), who trailed 9-7 with 19:38 to go before Smith scored twice to tie the match at 9-9 with 15:08 left as part of a run of five goals in 4 1/2 minutes.
Juliette Cusano finished with two goals and an assist and became Tusculum's career leader in draw controls with a game-high eight. Cusano now has 228 career draw controls for the Pioneers, surpassing the record of 222 set by Madison Malone from 2015-18.
Tia Tuininga also had two goals and an assist for the Pioneers, with two goals apiece from Emily Youngblood and Megann McKinney and one goal from Eliza Ryan. The Bears received three goals from Michelle Tang, two goals from Makenna Filley and Frances Williams and a goal from Alyssa Sack, while outshooting the Pioneers 16-9 in the second half and 31-21 for the game.
The teams were tied six times in the first half, with the largest lead for either side a 7-5 Bears lead with 5:40 left. Goals by Tuininga and Cusano in the final four minutes of the half sent the Pioneers to halftime in a 7-7 deadlock.
The Pioneers regained the lead at 8-7 on a Tuininga goal with 25:32 left in the second half, and went ahead 9-7 as McKinney scored on a free-position shot with 19:38 left. However, that would be the last goal of the day for the Pioneers as Smith scored twice in 72 seconds to tie the game at 9-9 with 15:08 left.
Gaffney gave the Bears the lead for good with 14:25 to go, followed by two straight goals from Tang with 13:47 and 12:01 remaining for a 12-9 Lenoir-Rhyne lead. Williams tacked on her second of the evening with 6:31 left and Sack closed the scoring with 2:05 to play.
Ryan finished with a team-high six ground balls and had two caused turnovers for the Pioneers, while Cusano had three ground balls and Youngblood added a pair. For the Bears, Williams led the way with five ground balls and five draw controls, with four caused turnovers apiece by Filley and Isabelle Dunnam.
The Bears finished with a slim 13-12 edge in draw controls and committed 21 turnovers to 20 by the Pioneers. Tusculum was 15-for-18 on clears while Lenoir-Rhyne was 14-for-22, and the Bears went 4-for-10 on free-position shots compared to 2-for-4 by the Pioneers.
Kate Pipkin played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and finished with eight saves, while Teanna Sieben had seven saves for the Bears.
Tusculum will return home to face Lincoln Memorial on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Railsplitters (2-5, 2-4 SAC) are playing all of their matches away from home this season and have lost four in a row heading into Wednesday's contest.
