Williamsburg, KY – The second-ranked UC women's lacrosse team outscored tenth-ranked Georgetown 8-2 in the second half to pull away for the 20-7 win Monday night at the UC Lacrosse Complex.  It was the Patriots tenth straight win, fourth against a NAIA top-ten opponent, as they improve to 12-1 on the season and 3-0 in MSC play.

Bella Ricchiazzi set a new career-high in points with 14 tallying seven goals, seven assists, and eight draw controls.  Stephanie Meyer added a hat trick, five points, and a pair of ground balls, while Rachel Leigh and Aleyah Belton each finished with a hat trick.  Reegan Hensley chipped in three points.

Defensively, the Patriots were led by Trinity Brown, who notched a pair of milestones in the game.  The junior tallied nine draw controls for 100 on the season, five caused turnovers, and six ground balls. Belton added four caused turnovers, while Hannah Churchley finished with a pair of caused turnovers.

UC struck early as Brown won the opening draw control and on the ensuing possession Meyer connected with Ricchiazzi for a goal 36 seconds into the game.  Two minutes later, Erin Bryant scooped a ground ball to begin a transition that resulted in a Ricchiazzi goal, her second of three straight as UC extend their lead to 3-0 with 10:53 left.  Both defenses picked up their intensity until UC added a pair of goals within a 15 second span from Meyer and Belton to extend the lead to 5-0.  Georgetown (7-6; 1-1) added a goal late to cut the lead to 5-1 after the opening period.

The combination of Brown and Ricchiazzi got things going in the second quarter as Brown notched a caused turnover and a draw control, while Ricchaizzi dished out a pair of assists to give UC a 7-1 advantage two minutes in.  The Tigers netted two of the next three goals, however, Hensley connected with Leigh for a goal to spark a three goal Patriot run, making it 11-3 with 3:46 left.  In the closing seconds of the first half Ricchiazzi won the draw control and found Leigh cutting in front of the cage for a goal making it 12-5 in favor of the Patriots.

In that second quarter Brown notched her 33^rd caused turnover the season, making her the program record holder for a single season as she surpassed Emily Heim's 32 caused turnovers in 2018.

Cumberlands slowed the tempo down a little in the third quarter, however, Ricchiazzi found Meyer for a pair of goals to extend the lead to 14-6 midway through the period.  The score remained that way until the 3:28 mark when Katie Wharton forced a Tigers turnover and found Morgan Terpstra cutting for the goal.  Hensley and Marisa Helston each added a goal over the final minutes extending the lead to 17-6.

Georgetown scored a goal to open the fourth quarter before Brown won the ensuing draw control for her 100^th on the year.  On that possession Belton split the defense and netted an unassisted goal to push the lead back to 11 at 18-7.  The Patriots added a pair of goals late for the 20-7 final.

Ricchiazzi's 14 points are the second most in program history tying Samantha Tullar, who did it against Missouri Baptist on March 2, 2018.  The Patriots outshot the Tigers 35-13 in the game and won the draw control battle 22-8.

The Patriots return home Saturday, April 2, when they host Tennessee Wesleyan.  The game is set for 2 p.m. with live stats available here and live video available here.

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