Hickory, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs were in control all afternoon on Wednesday, rolling to a 20-8 victory at Lenoir-Rhyne University in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action. Wingate wins its fifth straight, moving to 8-2 overall and 6-2 in the SAC. The Bears fall to 4-5 overall and 3-3 in league play.

THOUGHTS FROM ABBY WILEY:

"I am so proud of the effort and determination our team showed today. To beat a conference rival for the first time in program history is a huge accomplishment, I couldn't be prouder."

THOUGHTS FROM KENDALL WELLS:

"Such an incredible team win tonight! The 'Dogs came out fired up and never let up. There is no better feeling than getting redemption against a conference rival in LR and making program history while doing it! I'm so proud of how far this team has come and am so excited to see all of our hard work pay off finishing out the regular season going into tournament play! Go dogs!!!"

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-shot Lenoir-Rhyne 33-15
- The 'Dogs put 32 shots on goal; the Bears had 15 shots on frame
- Wingate won 21 of the 30 draw controls on the day
- The Bulldogs turned it over 15 times; LR turned it over 12 times
- WU had 14 of the 27 ground balls

KEY BULLDOGS

- Kendall Wells had six goals and two assists
- The SAC's all-time leading scorer went over 200 career goals in the game
- Annie Plotts had five goals, an assist and two ground balls
- Becca Ruiz added four goals and two assists
- Nina Cifolilli registered a goal and three assists
- Leah Knowles had a goal, assist, seven draw controls and two caused turnovers
- Paige Kamer added a goal and two assists
- Abby Burke contributed a goal and an assist
- Morgan Akers had a goal and two caused turnovers
- Kayleigh Hiles piled up six draw controls
- Megan Biase piled up seven saves on the day

FIRST HALF

- Ruiz scored in the opening minute, but LR scored three of the next four to take a 3-2 lead
- Wingate answered with four straight goals
- Ruiz and Plotts started the flurry; Wells scored twice in a minute to make it 6-3 at the 15:57 mark
- A Frances Williams goal pulled the Bears within two with 13:41 remaining
- The 'Dogs had the emphatic response, scoring seven times in the next five minutes to go up by nine
- Kamer got it started, while back-to-back goals from Wells made it 9-4 with 10 minutes left
- Knowles and Plotts scored in a 20-second span to push the lead to seven
- Ruiz and Wells capped the spurt, making it 13-4 with 7:45 to go
- Goals from Plotts and Burke 18 seconds apart gave WU a 15-5 advantage with 4:32 left in the half

SECOND HALF

- The 'Dogs scored the first four goals of the second half to cap a 6-0 run
- Plotts and Cifolilli started the second-half flurry, with Ruiz assisting on both
- Akers scored at the 23:13 mark, while a Plotts goal made it 19-5 with 20 minutes left
- Cathleen Gaffney scored twice for the Bears to cut the deficit to 11
- Ruiz scored the final goal of the day with 1:56 left, making it 20-8

UP NEXT

- The 'Dogs are back in action Monday, traveling to North Greenville
- Wingate is at Catawba Wednesday afternoon
- The Bulldogs return home Saturday, April 17 to host Tusculum