Salisbury, N.C.----Wingate University senior attack Brittany Andrews (Bel Air, Md.) tallied a season-high seven goals with two assists as the visiting Bulldogs earned a 14-8 triumph over the Catawba College Indians in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action from Shuford Stadium Saturday afternoon. Andrews increased her 2017 season total to 46 goals in the victory.
 
The seven tallies by Andrews ties a school record achieved three other times. Andrews did the honors twice during her junior season: versus North Greenville on April 13, 2016 and versus Lees-McRae on March 16, 2016. Wingate attack Logan Bounds tallied seven goals in a road game at Coker on March 1, 2014.
 
Wingate pushes its win streak to five games, improving to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the SAC. Catawba is now 8-3 overall and 2-2 in league play. The Wingate Bulldogs return home this Wednesday for a non-conference encounter versus Lees-McRae College from Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex. First draw control is slated for a 6 p.m. start. Catawba travels to Erskine College on the same day and time.
 
"We did a great job coming out hard, executing our game plan and making adjustments as needed," Wingate head coach Caline McHenry Olmsted says. "We knew it would take a total team effort for 60 minutes to get the win."
 
WU senior midfielder Paulena Dempsey (Jarrettsville, Md.) supported Andrews' efforts with four goals and one assist, while freshman attack/midfielder Kendall Wells (Elkridge, Md.) netted two tallies. Dempsey now has 28 total goals in her final season in the Navy Blue and Vegas Gold. Wells continues her productive freshman campaign with 15 total scores. Redshirt junior attack Shannon O'Neal (Severna Park, Md.) contributed one goal.
 
For Catawba, sophomore midfielder Erin Green (Stratford, N.J.), senior midfielder Nicolette Salay (Columbus, N.J.) and senior attack Kirstyn Kruse (Sagamore Beach, Mass.) led the Indians with two goals each. Junior midfielder Becky Frost (Crofton, Md.) and sophomore defender/midfielder Imani Grays (Greensboro, N.C.) both added one tally.
 
Wingate never trailed in the contest, jumping out to the early 2-0 advantage on back-to-back tallies from Andrews and O'Neal with 23:04 left in the first half. A goal from Frost cut the deficit in half at 2-1 with 20:48 to play, but the Bulldogs answered with four straight tallies to take a commanding 6-1 lead with 16:19 to go. Both teams exchanged goals in the final minutes of the first half with Wingate leading 7-2 at the halftime intermission.
 
The Bulldogs struck first in the second half with an unassisted goal from Andrews to make the score 8-2 Wingate before Catawba answered with a tally by Kruse to trim the advantage down to 8-3 at the 19:37 plateau. Back-to-back insurance tallies from Wells and Andrews extended the margin out to 10-3 with 18:31 on the clock.
 
With Wingate leading 12-4 after consecutive goals from Andrews, Catawba attempted a late comeback with three unanswered scores to cut the deficit down to 12-7 with 4:41 remaining. Dempsey ended the mini-run with an unassisted goal to make the margin 13-7 before another Indian goal from Salay trimmed the deficit to 13-8 at the 2:55 mark. Dempsey closed out the contest with another goal with 1:49 left as the 'Dogs held on for the six-goal victory.
 
Wingate sophomore goalkeeper and back-to-back SAC Defensive Player of the Week Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) posted 10 saves and got the win, improving her record to 8-2. She went the distance Saturday. Catawba junior goalie Madison Anselmo (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) also tallied 10 stops and took the loss, while playing the full 60 minutes. Wingate outshot Catawba 32-23, while maintaining the 18-6 edge in draw control victories. Catawba led 24-22 in ground balls.
 
(Wingate University athletic media relations/sports network student assistant Jackson Kaplan contributed this article. A sophomore from Raleigh, Kaplan is a Communication Studies major at Wingate.)