MARS HILL, N.C. --- Tia Daniel reached the 200-point mark for her career as Tusculum University picked up a 12-9 victory over Mars Hill University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action Saturday at Meares Stadium.
Daniel had two goals and two assists for the Pioneers (7-9, 4-6 SAC), who finished the season with four wins in their final six games. Daniel's assist on a goal by Abby Lockwood with 5:36 left boosted her career totals to 149 points and 51 assists for 200 points in 45 games. Daniel, who set the program single-season record for points with 86 (58 goals, 28 assists), joins Madison Malone (241 points from 2015-18) as the only Pioneers to reach the 200-point plateau.
Kamryn McNeil finished with three goals and two assists, Abby Lockwood scored three goals and Lucy Brewer, Emma Miller, Jadyn Gleason and Jessie Carolin-Vandenberg also scored for the Pioneers, who held the Lions scoreless in the third quarter and finished with a 25-16 shot advantage in the match.
Alexa Tazzetta scored three goals for the Lions (4-11, 2-8 SAC), with three goals from Chandler Werner and two goals by Sydney Joyce. Haley Stallings had a goal and an assist for the Lions, who had 22 turnovers as a team and trailed from the opening minute.
Tusculum needed just 17 seconds to take a 1-0 lead on a goal from Carolin-Vandenberg, and stretched the lead to 3-0 after 5 1/2 minutes on goals from McNeil and Brewer. Mars Hill would score twice in 1:23 on goals from Joyce and Tazzetta, but Miller and McNeil would respond in the final 5 1/2 minutes of the opening quarter to give Tusculum a 5-2 lead.
Lockwood and Gleason would extend Tusculum's advantage to 7-2 with 8:24 left in the first half, but Mars Hill responded with three goals in 3 1/2 minutes from Stallings, Tazzetta and Joyce. Lockwood pushed Tusculum back ahead 8-5 with 2:10 left in the first half, which was answered by Werner with 1:01 left to cut the Pioneer lead to 8-6 at halftime.
Daniel scored the only two goals of the third quarter, coming 17 seconds apart, as the Pioneers went up 10-6 heading to the fourth. McNeil gave Tusculum an 11-6 lead with 13:14 to go, but Werner tallied her second of the day with 10:00 to play for Mars Hill. Lockwood would put the Pioneers back up 12-7 with 5:36 left off the milestone feed from Daniel, before the Lions made it close late on goals from Tazzetta and Werner in the final 3 1/2 minutes.
Carolin-Vandenberg had four ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Pioneers, with five draw controls and two caused turnovers by Brewer and six draw controls by Daniel. For Mars Hill, Tazzetta had six draw controls and four ground balls and went 3-for-3 on free-position shots for her three goals.
Emily White played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pioneers and finished with seven saves. For Mars Hill, Rebeca Sanchez was lifted after allowing four goals in 11 minutes, with Lauren Bryner making eight saves over the final 49 minutes.
