GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- An eight-goal surge in the first quarter by Missouri Western State University propelled the Griffons to an 18-7 victory over Tusculum University in non-conference women's lacrosse Sunday afternoon at a chilly Pioneer Field.
Sam Pruitt scored four goals and had four assists and Madison Brady added four goals for the Griffons (4-3), who improved to 2-0 on their four-game Southeastern road trip. Missouri Western outshot Tusculum 29-14 and forced the Pioneers into 12 turnovers on clear attempts.
Tia Daniel led the Pioneers (3-5) with three goals and three assists, with two goals from Lucy Brewer and a goal apiece from Abby Lockwood and Mackenzie Sherrod. The Pioneers played the Griffons even on the scoreboard in the second half 5-5 after trailing 13-2 at intermission.
Jordan Coulon and Karlin York each had a goal and three assists for Missouri Western, which had goals from 12 different players in the victory. The Griffons had a 16-12 advantage in draw controls but went just 2-for-6 on free-position shots, all in the first half.
Seven different players accounted for the first seven goals for the Griffons, with Pruitt's second of the game giving Missouri Western an 8-0 lead after one quarter. The Pioneers got on the board with 9:34 left in the first half on a goal from Brewer off a pass from Daniel, and the duo hooked up again with 7:21 left in the half. Goals from Pruitt and Brady in the final five minutes would give Missouri Western a 13-2 lead at the half.
Daniel scored two goals for the Pioneers in the third quarter, leaving Tusculum trailing 15-4 heading to the fourth quarter. After two goals from Brady gave Missouri Western a 17-4 lead with 10:10 to play, Tusculum would score three of the final four goals. Sherrod connected on a free-position shot with 7:40 left, followed by the third of the day from Daniel with 5:52 left. Lockwood would close the scoring off a feed from Daniel with eight seconds left.
Daniel had a team-high six draw controls for the Pioneers while Brewer had four ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Celeste Raya had two caused turnovers and two ground balls for the Pioneers. Mikaela Ness paced the Griffons with eight draw controls and two caused turnovers, with three draw controls apiece from Coulon and KC Ossello. Grace Williams had a team-high four ground balls for Missouri Western, with three apiece from York and Campbell Kennedy.
Kari Ham played the first half in goal for the Pioneers and made four saves, with one save from Emily White in the second half. Mackenzie Porter recorded four saves for the Griffons.
Tusculum returns to South Atlantic Conference action on Saturday at noon at Limestone. The Saints, who are 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the SAC, have been idle since a 24-4 win at Mars Hill on Wednesday which was their sixth straight victory.
