HARTSVILLE, S.C. --- Tia Daniel scored six goals and three assists and Lucy Brewer added five goals as Tusculum University routed Coker University 20-6 in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Sunday afternoon.
Kamryn McNeil added three goals and an assist and Abby Lockwood and Mackenzie Sherrod scored twice apiece for the Pioneers (3-3, 1-1 SAC), who scored the first three goals and outscored the Cobras (1-4, 0-2 SAC) 11-1 in the second half after taking a 9-5 lead to halftime. Jadyn Gleason and Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg also scored for the Pioneers, who forced the Cobras into 23 turnovers in the match.
Hailey Morgan led Coker with three goals, with two goals from Madeline Hart and one from Amariah Lawson. However, Coker was outshot 37-15 by Tusculum and endured scoreless droughts of 19 and 15 minutes in a match played in a steady rainfall.
Daniel's six goals were a season high and one short of her career high of seven, set twice last season. Her nine points were also one off her career best of 10 set against Converse on March 15, 2022. Brewer matched her season high with five goals, which she set against Charleston on Feb. 11.
Tusculum ran out to a 3-0 lead after 5 1/2 minutes on goals from Lockwood, Daniel and Brewer, before Coker got on the board on a goal from Morgan with 7:41 left in the first quarter. The teams would trade off goals the rest of the quarter as the Pioneers carried a 6-3 lead into the second period following goals from McNeil, Daniel and Lockwood.
Brewer scored twice in 62 seconds for an 8-3 Pioneer lead with 11:20 remaining until halftime, but two goals from Hart surrounding a goal from Gleason would help the Cobras to a 9-5 deficit at intermission.
The Pioneers poured on the offense at the start of the third quarter, with two goals from McNeil and Brewer and one from Daniel as Tusculum led 14-5 with 7:00 remaining in the quarter. Daniel would stretch Tusculum's lead to 15-5 with 2:22 to go in the period, before Morgan brought the deficit back to nine with 32 seconds left.
Tusculum was in control in the fourth quarter, scoring all five goals in the period to reach the 20-goal mark for the first time this season. Daniel and Sherrod each scored twice in the frame with a goal from Carolin-Vandenberg as well.
Daniel led Tusculum with eight draw controls and shared the team lead with Brewer with three caused turnovers. Gleason had four draw controls and three ground balls, with two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers by McNeil. Emma Miller had three ground balls and an assist for Tusculum, who also received assists from Natalie Dagley and Chloe Michalski.
Coker received five draw controls apiece from Lawson and Hart, with four ground balls and three draw controls for Morgan and three ground balls by Hart. Madeline Fontana led the Cobras with a pair of caused turnovers.
Kari Ham played the first three quarters in goal for the Pioneers and had five saves, with one save by Emily White in a scoreless fourth quarter. Coker received 10 saves from Zoe Cotheran, who played all 60 minutes between the pipes.
Tusculum will be home to take on Anderson on Wednesday, March 15 at 4 p.m. in a SAC matchup. The Trojans fell to 6-3 overall and 1-1 in the SAC with a 15-8 loss to Limestone on Saturday.
