DENVER – The No. 10 University of Denver women's lacrosse team ended the regular season with the out-right BIG EAST regular season title after defeating Marquette 18-9 on Saturday afternoon at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
Lauren Black's eight hat trick and 14
th multi-goal game led the Pioneers with seven points on four goals and three assists.
Julia Gilbert added six points with four goals and two helpers, while
Bea Behrins chipped in five on a hat trick and two assists.
Kayla DeRose and
Ellie Curry rounded out Denver's multi goal scorers with two apiece.
Abby Jenkins controlled the circle with 10 draw controls.
Sammie Morton,
Kailee Lammers and Curry all Denver with three caused turnovers apiece, leading a 16-caused turnover day for the Pioneers. Morton and Lammers added a game-high five ground balls in the victory.
Denver's goalies split time with
Victoria Macres leading the way for Denver's netminders, stopping seven of 10 Marquette shots on goal in the second half.
FIRST QUARTER:
Denver opened the scoring with a goal in transition as Black fed Curry, who buried her 15
th of the season.
Following a Marquette leveler, Black split two defenders and picked a corner to put Denver back in-front with 6:40 to play in the opening quarter.
The Golden Eagles ended the quarter on a 3-0 run in the final 5:37 to take a 4-2 lead after the 15 minutes.
SECOND QUARTER:
Denver opened the second frame on a 4-0 run, playing make it, take it, to flip a two-goal deficit into a two-goal advantage with 7:48 to go in the quarter, forcing a Marquette timeout.
Gilbert bookended the run, with her first coming from the arc and her second coming from a rolling dodge after faking out the Marquette defense.
Caroline Colimore and Behrins also scored in the run for Denver.
Denver won the draw out of the Golden Eagles timeout and
Kayla DeRose made it a 5-0 Denver run to start the quarter and put Denver up 7-4 with 6:30 to play in the first half.
Marquette responded with a pair to cut the Denver margin to one, but the Pioneers ended the half on three-straight goals in the final 3:15 of the half to take a 10-6 lead into the locker room.
Mollie Estepp, a free-position tally from Behrins and Black's second of the afternoon 20 seconds later completed the Pioneers three-goal run that gave Denver eight in the quarter.
THIRD QUARTER:
Denver scored three of the four goals in the third quarter to push its lead to 13-7 heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
On the heels of a 3-0 run to end the second quarter, the Pioneers opened the third with a 3-0 spurt, DU's second 5-0 run or better in the game.
Behrins capped her hat trick to open the third-quarter scoring.
Kayla DeRose picked a defender's pocket in the Marquette clear and finished into an open net and
Julia Gilbert got free on a restart to make it 13-6 Pios with 5:37 to go.
FOURTH QUARTER:
With a six-goal advantage, Denver got the first two of the fourth quarter, with goals 48 seconds apart.
Reagan Wilson scored on the woman-up off a feed from Black, and then Black completed her hat trick with her 40
th of the season, increasing the advantage to 15-7 with 13:36 to play.
Gilbert, Black and Curry scored down the stretch to get Denver to for the first time in conference play.
NOTES:
- Denver's eight goals in the second quarter was its most in a quarter since its first quarter of the season when the Pioneers got 10 against Louisville on February 13.
- The Pioneers won their ninth regular season title in 2022, including their third-straight BIG EAST crown.
UP NEXT: Denver will open the BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Thursday when the top-seeded Pioneers host fourth-seeded UConn Thursday at 1 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
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