Hartsville, S.C.--- Wingate University junior midfielder and reigning South Atlantic Conference Offensive Player of the Week Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.) tallied a team-best six goals as the Bulldogs earned a 15-8 SAC women's lacrosse road triumph at Coker College Saturday. Wingate improves to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the SAC. Coker falls to 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the SAC.

"Our team did a tremendous job executing our game plan today," Wingate head women's lacrosse coach Caline McHenry Olmsted says. "We had multiple people step up on the offensive and defensive ends to help us compete. I am very proud of their efforts."
 
Wingate junior midfielder Paulena Dempsey (Jarrettsville, Md.) matched Andrews in the point department with six markers. Dempsey scored one goal to bring her team-leading total to 35 on the season. Her Saturday-best five assists give her 15 helpers this year, second on the team to senior captain Emily Nosek (Bel Air, Md.). Dempsey leads the Bulldogs with 50 total points.

The 'Dogs began the contest with five unanswered tallies and never looked back to gain an early 5-0 advantage with 17:30 to play in the first half. Coker ended the Wingate consecutive goal streak to make it a 5-1 contest with 11:57 to go in the first half on a score from freshman attack Faith Kent (Winter Springs, Fla.). Kent scored three goals on the afternoon to tie for the Coker team lead along with junior midfielder Mackenzie Baker (Orlando, Fla.).

Wingate responded with four more consecutive goals to take a 9-1 lead with 4:27 remaining in the first half. The ninth score was netted by freshman midfielder Megan Amrein (Abingdon, Md.) for her fourth goal of the season. The John Carroll School product had two tallies on the afternoon to add to her season total of five goals in her freshman campaign. WU maintained a 10-3 advantage going into the halftime break.

The Bulldogs began the second half of play with a goal from redshirt sophomore attack Shannon O'Neal (Severna Park, Md.) to give Wingate an 11-3 lead with 29:28 in the second half. O'Neal finished second on the WU team goal list with four total tallies in the contest. She now has 20 goals on the season.

The Cobras would inch closer to attempt to overcome the eight-goal deficit with back-to-back scores to make it an 11-5 contest with 24:08 in the second half. WU maintained a 12-6 advantage with 11:21 in the second half until the Bulldogs added three more unanswered insurance goals to take a 15-6 lead with 5:43 to go in the contest on their way to their second league victory in three tries.

Wingate freshman goalkeeper and reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Week Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) posted eight saves on the afternoon and picked up the win. She went the distance Saturday. Coker freshman goalie Cassie Dodge (Virginia Beach, Va.) recorded seven saves and took the loss. She also went the distance.

The Wingate University women's lacrosse team will be back in action on Wednesday, March 30, when they return home to the Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex for a SAC contest against the number 14 Queens University of Charlotte Royals. First draw control is slated for 4 p.m. The Coker College Cobras will also be home on March 30, when they host SAC foe the Catawba College Indians for a 5 p.m. encounter.

(Wingate University sports information/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A freshman from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate. The former Millbrook High School baseball player is the son of Harrison and Dona Kaplan.)