Wingate, N.C.----Wingate University senior attack Madison LaBarbera (Colchester, Conn.) had a career-high nine points (three goals, six assists) as the Bulldogs defeated Tusculum College 19-15 in the South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse tournament quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon at Graham Gill Field.
 
Wingate sophomore attack Kendall Wells (Elkridge, Md.) had six goals and one assist to give her a school-record 83 points on the season (70 goals, 13 assists). Her 70 goals lead the SAC and rank second in the league's single-season history. For Tusculum senior midfielders Erin Sims (Trussville, Ala.) and Madison Malone (Maple Grove, Minn.) had six points each.
 
GAME INFORMATION
 
Score: Wingate 19, Tusculum 15
Records: #4 seed Wingate 6-12 overall, #5 seed Tusculum 6-11 overall
Location: Graham Gill Field at the Irwin Belk Track Complex, Wingate, N.C.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

-Wingate freshman midfielder Nina Cifolilli (Kent Island, Md.) had a career-high five goals. She also dished out one assist.
-Sims led the TC Pioneers with four goals. She passed out two assists. Malone split things down the middle with three goals and three assists.
-Wingate outshot Tusculum 39-28 with a 34-25 edge in shots on goal.
-The Bulldogs had 20 draw controls, while the Pioneers posted 15 draw controls.
-Tusculum had 15 ground balls, compared to 14 for Wingate.
-Bulldog junior goalie Arion Pierre (Haymarket, Va.) played 60 minutes with 15 goals allowed and 10 saves.
-Pioneer freshman goalie Kate Pipkin (Annapolis, Md.) played 56-plus minutes. She surrendered 18 goals with 15 saves.
 
First Half
 
The first half featured five ties. The Bulldogs scored the last three goals of the first frame to take an 8-6 lead. Wells led Wingate with three first-half goals, while Cifolilli added two scores. Five different WU players scored in the first half. Sims led the visiting Pioneers with two first-half goals.

Second Half

Tusculum scored the first two goals of the second stanza to tie the contest 8-8. Sims and LaBarbera traded goals to tie the game for the seventh (and final) time at 9-9. Wells gave the Bulldogs the lead for good (thanks to a LaBarbera assist) at the 23:07 mark. Wingate led by as many as five goals in the waning moments before settling for the four-goal triumph.
 
NOTABLES
 
-Cifolilli has had a good year against the TC Pioneers. She scored four goals in Wingate's 17-14 victory in Greeneville, Tenn. on April 14.
-LaBarbera's six assists give her 22 on the season, second on the Wingate list to sophomore attack Joanna King (Lancaster, Pa.) and her 27 helpers.
                                     
QUOTABLES

Wingate interim head women's lacrosse coach Kirsten Smith: "We're very happy to be moving on to the SAC semifinals on Friday, especially at home! Our team did a fantastic job sticking to our game plan and following our adjustments throughout the game. During halftime, we spoke mostly about wanting to take more chances at the goal and we definitely did this with 25 shots in the second half compared to 14 in the first. Our balanced and helper attack definitely brought our success as well."

NEXT ON THE HORIZON
 
Wingate will play number one seed Lenoir-Rhyne Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the SAC tournament semi-finals. The Bulldogs are hosting both the SAC men's and women's lacrosse final four at Graham Gill Field.