GREENWOOD – The Lander women's lacrosse regular season ended on a high note Saturday at Van Taylor Stadium to the tune of an 18-2 win over Gulf South Conference affiliate Virginia State.
Playing under perfect sunny conditions at the
Jeff May Complex,
Morgan Hill was about as close as she could get to perfect and broke her previous career highs on a six-goal, eight-point day.
Hill did it on 11 shots while also causing a turnover and adding a ground ball.
Kylie Fragala had her second four-point day in the last three games on a pair of goals and assists.
Sophie Warren and
Ella Benson added two goals apiece.
Benson also led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and two ground balls while tying her season-high of four draw controls.
Six other Bearcats scored a goal – including a pair of first-time goal-scorers in defenders
Kaia Morey and
Karsyn Rivers.
Morey had six draw controls to lead all players, and freshman
Gabriella Eraso grabbed five. LU won the draw control battle 17-4.
The game was never in doubt for the Bearcats (7-8, 3-2 GSC) as they led 5-1 after 15 minutes and 12-1 at the half over VSU (3-10, 0-5 GSC).
Morey's goal was especially noteworthy with her Bearcat career in its last handful of games. She won a draw control with about 8:30 left in the second quarter, flipped it ahead to Warren who gave it right back to Morey with an open lane – and she did the rest by finishing to the top-left.
Rivers' score was on a free-position attempt during the third quarter.
Lander outshot Virginia State 33-6 and 21-4 on-goal. They also marked season-highs in assists (8) and points (26).
The Bearcats finished third in the conference standings and will play No. 2 seed Alabama-Huntsville in the GSC Tournament semifinals on Friday, April 24.
More information on the tournament can be found here.
