CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Top-ranked Queens University of Charlotte overcame an early deficit to defeat Tusculum University 25-6 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday afternoon.
The Royals (11-0, 6-0 SAC) outshot the Pioneers by a 43-14 margin and led 19-2 at halftime. Kyleigh Masteran scored six goals and had an assist, Rebecca Kinsley had five goals and two assists and Sydney Bracken had a goal and four assists for Queens, which had outscored its previous three conference opponents by a 73-3 margin. Tia Tuininga had three goals and an assist and Kylie Marek scored three goals for the Pioneers (3-8, 0-5 SAC).
The Royals fell behind for just the third time in 11 games as Marek scored 1:23 into the first quarter for a 1-0 Pioneer lead. Queens would tie the game a short time later and go on to score 13 consecutive goals to take a 13-1 lead after the first period. Marek scored her second of the game with 12:34 left in the second quarter to stop the Royals' run, but Queens would score six in a row to end the half with a 19-2 advantage.
The second half was more evenly played, with Queens outscoring Tusculum 6-4 and holding a 10-9 advantage in shots. Tuininga scored all three of her goals in the second half, including a pair in the fourth quarter, to boost her season total to 36.
Marek led the Pioneers with three draw controls while Morgan Correia, Leighann Yudin, Lucy Brewer and Kamryn McNeil had two ground balls apiece. For Queens, Bracken had eight draw controls and Grace Guglielmo had six, while Masteran and Shannon Donovan had three ground balls each for the Royals.
Queens finished the game with a 24-6 advantage in draw controls and an 18-11 edge in ground balls. The Royals were 4-for-7 on free-position shots and a perfect 5-for-5 on clears, while the Pioneers were 8-for-16 on clear attempts and 1-for-4 on free-position shots.
Taylor Floyd played the first half in goal for the Pioneers and made six saves, while Caroline Monroe had two saves in the second half. For Queens, Sharn Muffett played all 60 minutes between the pipes and had three saves.
Tusculum will host Coker on Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Field. The Cobras (1-10, 0-6 SAC) lost their seventh in a row on Saturday with a 16-9 setback at Mars Hill.
