Greeneville, Tenn.----The #21 Wingate University Bulldogs closed out a memorable regular season in style Saturday afternoon, rolling to a 22-6 victory at Tusculum in South Atlantic Conference women's lacrosse action. The 'Dogs improve to 14-2 overall and 9-1 in the SAC, while the Pioneers fall to 4-12 overall and 1-9 in league play. The 14 wins are the most in program history for the Bulldogs

KEY STATS

- Wingate out-shot Tusculum 43-11
- The 'Dogs held a 36-9 advantage in shots on goal
- Tusculum committed 31 of the 48 turnovers on the day
- Wingate caused 11 of those 31 TU miscues
- The Bulldogs were 12-for-14 on clears and held a 27-15 edge in ground balls
- The Pioneers converted just seven of their 24 clear attempts
- Wingate won 17 of the 30 draw controls

KEY BULLDOGS

- Paige Kamer had a goal and a career-best six assists to lead the offense
- Bella Pellet poured in a career-high six goals, adding two draw controls and a CT
- Leah Knowles had two goals, three assists, six draw controls, five ground balls and five CTs
- Knowles netted her 100th career goal Saturday, while also setting a WU single-season record with 77 draw controls
- She broke the program record for caused turnovers last week, finishing the regular season with 43
- The All-Region honoree leads the team in goals, points, draw controls, ground balls and CTs
- Nelida Watson contributed three goals and an assist
- Becca Ruiz had two goals, two assists, five draw controls and three ground balls
- The senior went over 150 career points with her efforts Saturday
- Kayleigh Hiles registered a goal and two assists
- Avery Scherer and Madi Caldwell contributed two goals apiece
- Kaleigh Wilgeroth had a goal and an assist
- Meghan Higgins and Danielle Scarfogliero each scored a goal for the 'Dogs
- Claire Fuchs, Kirsten Chalmers and Blake Clouser contributed an assist apiece
- Emily Phipps had a caused turnover and five ground balls
- Megan Biase recorded a save in 30 minutes of action
- Emilly Rango notched a pair of saves in 15 minutes

FIRST QUARTER

- Watson scored twice in the first 90 seconds to give the 'Dogs an early 2-0 lead, with Kamer assisting on both
- Goals from Knowles and Ruiz made it 4-0 just over four minutes in
- Watson finished her hat trick at the 10:08 mark off a Knowles assist to make it 5-0
- Goals from Knowles and Kamer made it 7-0 at the midway point of the period
- Scarfogliero answered Tusculum's first score with a goal off a Fuchs assist to make it 8-1
- The Pioneers scored twice in the final two minutes to cut the lead to five

SECOND QUARTER

- Wingate struck five times in the first seven minutes to push the lead to 10 at 13-3
- Pellet had three goals in the flurry, with Kamer contributing three assists
- Tusculum cut the lead to nine, but a Scherer goal off a Knowles assist put WU up by 10 at halftime

THIRD QUARTER

- Wingate had all four goals in the third frame
- Wilgeroth scored the first goal then assisted on a Ruiz goal to make it 16-5 with 6:18 left
- Goals from Caldwell and Pellet put the 'Dogs on top 18-5 heading to the final period

FOURTH QUARTER

- Pellet scored off a Knowles assist to start the scoring
- Caldwell netted the 20th goal of the day for the Bulldogs off a Clouser assist at the 10:24 mark
- A Higgins goal off Kamer's assist made it 21-6
- Pellet scored the final goal of the day with 2:52 remaining off a Hiles assist

UP NEXT

- Wingate has a bye in the opening round of the SAC Tournament, earning the two seed
- The 'Dogs will be back in action in the SAC Tourney semifinals Friday at 1:30 p.m.
- WU will face the winner of the Limestone vs. Newberry contest
- The championship contest is slated for Sunday, May 1 at 1 p.m.
- The semifinals and finals will take place at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C.