Williamsburg, KY – Bella Ricchiazzi dished out a career-high sixassists and tallied nine points to lead the third-ranked UC women's lacrosse team to a 19-8 win over eighth-ranked Georgetown Wednesday night at the UC Lacrosse/Soccer Complex.  With the win the Patriots improve to 11-2 overall and 2-0 in MSC play, while the Tigers move to 4-4 and 0-2 in conference play.

Both teams got off to slow starts three shots in the first five minutes of action, however Alyssa Case netted an unassisted goal at the 24:51 mark to give Georgetown a 1-0 lead.  The Patriots tied the score 34 seconds later as Ricchiazzi made a quick pass to Shea West for a goal.  West added another goal with the assists coming from Amanda Phillips to give UC a 2-1 lead with 19:22 remaining.  Katie Brewer and Ricchiazzi combined for the next two goals to extend the lead to 4-1 midway through the first half.

Avery Blackmon led the Tigers response with two straight goals to cut the lead to 4-3 with 12:08 remaining.  UC rallied as Jaclyn Berry converted a free position goal before West completed her hat trick to give the Patriots a 6-3 lead with 10:05 remaining in the first half.  A couple minutes later, Emily Heim forced a Tigers' turnover, scooped the ground ball, and netted an unassisted goal to give Cumberlands a 7-3 advantage.  That goal was part of a 3-0 run for the Patriots which featured goals by Phillips and Heim to extend the lead to 9-3 with 6:11 left.  After Georgetown cut the lead to 9-4 Cumberlands recorded three straight free position goals to give the Patriots a 12-4 lead at halftime. Emily Crump made seven of her game-high ten saves in the first half to limit Georgetown offense.

Phillips scooped the opening draw control of the second half and on the ensuing possession found Berry cutting towards the cage for a goal 23 seconds in.  UC added two unanswered goals to extend the lead to 15-4 with 27:46 remaining.  Georgetown recorded three of the next four goals to cut the deficit to 16-7, however, West found Kelsey Fearing, who put a well-placed shot inside the lower corner of the cage to give the Patriots a ten goal advantage. Cumberlands netted two of the final three goals for the 19-8 final.

Brewer tallied four goals and an assists, while Phillips and West finished with four points apiece.  Berry and Heim each recorded a hat trick as Heim notched four draw controls and three caused turnovers in game.  Elizabeth Fladung scooped four draw controls and three ground balls, while Crump finished with ten saves and four ground balls.   

The Patriots return to the field Saturday, March 30, when they travel to Indianapolis, IN to face seventh-ranked Marian in a conference matchup. The game is slated for 3:30 p.m. start time.

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